


Space Dust

by ThirthFloor



Series: Original Stories and Collections! [1]
Category: Original Scifi, Original Work
Genre: Angst and Humor, Boys Being Boys, But not Star Wars AU, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Future Fic, Gay Space Rocks, IN SPACE!, Idiots in Love, Like... Star Wars energy?, M/M, Major Character(s), Major Original Character(s), New Planets, No Beta we die like Gido's ship, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Fiction, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Original Universe, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Outer Space, Planets, Revenge, Space Battles, Space Flight, futuristic setting, i guess?, scifi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirthFloor/pseuds/ThirthFloor
Summary: Runa Vero is a pilot and smuggler with one goal: self-preservation. He was lucky to be an orphan, and intended to survive for as long as he could with the life he got to have.Gido Darra was a bounty hunter. Then a smuggler. Then a mechanic. Now he's a scavenger. And he's hell-bent on dragging Runa into every little bit of his business. He calls it "adventure".Runa calls it insane.But, he can't help but answer the calls whenever they come through. Especially when this most recent one has a story behind it, one even Gido didn't feel inclined to share.
Relationships: Gido Darra/Runa Vero, Original Male Character/Original Male Character, Runa Vero & Gido Darra
Series: Original Stories and Collections! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870123
Comments: 26
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for coming to my first Original Work that I'm posting!! I was kinda nervous to put it up, but hey... whatever! It means a lot to me, and it will be really fun!!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy!!! Again, thank you so much for being here!!

Runa didn’t fly his ship at top speed; at this close to landing, he didn’t want to ruin the gear he had just so recently repaired. But it was  _ definitely _ over regulation speed for the area, engines purring warmly as a scowl rested deep in his features.

“Bastard thinks he can just call me from half a galaxy away,  _ expecting _ me to come pick him up with no fuss!” He practically punched the control panel to his left as he moved in to land, on the outskirts of a tiny town that gods only  _ know  _ how it came up on his radar. “ ‘Oh,  _ boo hoo _ , I’m in trouble, Runa, help!’ Shut  _ up _ , Darra, you think  _ I _ want to be in danger, too?”

And yet, here he was. Going to get the idiot away from whatever pickle he was about to get in to. For reasons he couldn’t explain,  _ wished _ he could explain only to  _ stop _ them, Runa was going out of his way  _ again  _ to collect this fool.

Dust and pebbles scattered in the wake of the ship’s landing, the entire craft lurching uncomfortably when it finally made contact with the ground. Runa took the unnecessary amount of pressure he had exerted off the brake, and stormed through the dim passage of his ship. He smacked the button to lower the ramp, marveling at how the thing hadn’t broken yet with the amount of times he’d abused it.

“Where the hell are you?” He barked into open air, looking around for the man himself. “I don’t have all day, you know this ship when you see it!”

There was a low wall nearby, separating what was likely a garbage dump at the very edge of the town from the vast, dark, dusty desert that stretched out across the next foreseeable miles of the small planet. Atop this wall, a figure clad in an assortment of dark linens - scavenger’s clothing, of course - with their hood and covering pulled up, hopped down from the brick and hauled up a duffel bag from the ground. 

Swinging the strap over their shoulder, they sauntered forward until they stood face-to-face with the pilot. At which point, they threw their arms out, what was visible of their eyes squinting in the familiar mirth that accompanied that broad,  _ irritating _ grin. 

“Runa! Long time, no see, my friend!” Gido Darra exclaimed, his deep voice carrying that ever-present, infectious cheer that the pilot just  _ refused _ with every fiber of his body. “Thanks  _ so _ much for the lift, really, you’re an absolute treasure.”

“Just get on,” Runa growled in response, bunching up the leather on the shoulder of the scavenger’s jacket and shoving him up the ramp into the hull of the ship. Ignoring the stammers of incredulous protest, he pushed past his passenger to get back to the cockpit and go through pre-flight. 

Gido’s voice echoed through the hall, getting louder as he finally joined Runa again in the same room. His hood was pushed back, messy blond waves of hair curling about his ears and giving him the appearance of a curious pooch. “You know, you shouldn’t be so huffy with your guests, if that rating system was still in, I’d give you at least a 3 out of 5.”

“I don’t get rated, because I’m not a registered  _ taxi _ . Smugglers are different, you know that. Sit unless you wanna fall.” Gido obeyed, more out of his own interest than Runa’s wishes. The steady hum of the engines got exponentially louder as the ship lifted and accelerated upwards, easily sending them up and away from whatever little scrap town was behind them.

Only the briefest of silences survived when Gido was present, but Runa sighed, disappointed nonetheless when he resumed his chatter. “Point is though, if you were  _ hypothetically _ registered, I’d pity anyone that wasn’t in your good graces such as myself. You’re nice to your friends, but golly, you must be  _ sour _ with strangers.”

“We’re not friends, for the record.  _ Friends _ don’t get other friends on hit lists.”

Cringing, Runa regretted it as soon as he said it. Gido gasped and lurched out of his seat, poking his head right into vision over the pilot’s shoulder. “Oh! You’re on a hit list? Which one?” He counted briefly on his fingers, getting to four before continuing his talk. “Golden Chart? If you’re on Golden Chart, then you’re fine. That’s for like - babies. They’ll put you on that one for double parking, just ‘cause it comes from a council of stuck-ups. Don’t worry.”

“A hit list is  _ still  _ a hit list, they’re after me no matter what the charges. I don’t enjoy being tailed, unlike  _ you _ .” Gido snorted at what he likely interpreted as a double entendre, and Runa rolled his eyes achingly at his immaturity.

“Bummer.”

Runa squeezed the controls, knuckles going white, before violently flicking a switch to put the whole ship into autopilot. “Have you  _ no  _ empathy? I’m on a fucking hit list because someone saw  _ you _ get on  _ my  _ ship! Which, by the way, since I  _ know _ you have your own craft, I’ll remind you is on  _ six _ lists of its own! And  _ three _ blacklists!” Before the scavenger could open his stupid mouth to comment, Runa held up a finger to persist in his tirade, his voice pinched with distress. “I will  _ not  _ be your chauffeur anymore!”

Another blissful moment of silence, as quiet as it could be with Gido’s stunned expression. But soon enough, it was filled with soft giggles to himself as he got up to wander about the pit. Runa sighed, embarrassed and frustrated that his complaints were always ineffective against this one.

Eventually though, his pacing came to an end as he  _ thwumped _ into the co-pilot’s seat to Runa’s right. “So! Where are we going? I’ll let you pick since you’re  _ so _ mad.”

“ _ We  _ are not going anywhere! Have you heard  _ nothing _ , literally  _ nothing _ that I said this whole time?”

Gido folded his hands in his lap, rubbing the palms of his gloves with his bare fingers as he propped his dusty, unreasonably tall ( _ to the thigh? _ ) boots on a spare space of the panel. Runa snarled, but that didn’t phase this leech. “Yeah, so about that  _ ship _ ... It kinda doesn’t exist any more. It got... smushed? Squished? Crushed?  _ Squooshed _ . In a compactor meant for  _ incredible _ amounts of space trash. With me in it! But, clearly, I got out, so don’t you worry one bit.  _ Point is _ , though, she’ll never fly again.”

He pouted and put a hand over his heart, bowing his blond head a in a moment of mournful silence. Runa rolled his eyes, but deep down he  _ knew _ how much Darra loved his ship. He almost,  _ almost _ felt bad.

But that did nothing to stop his next outburst. “I beg your  _ fucking  _ pardon? Why did you fly into a  _ trash compactor _ ?”

“Because of the reason I called you!” Protesting in his defense, Gido tossed his hands in the air. “There were some bad dudes after me, so I flew into a compactor so they thought I died! You’re telling me you’ve  _ never _ faked your death before? Come on.” He shook his head. “Anyways, it bought me a couple days for sure, so I left early with you! And now they won’t know which ship to come after, so we’re totally safe for now!”

“For  _ now _ ? You’re...” Runa pinched the bridge of his nose before that wasn’t enough, and took both hands to scrub at his eyes. “You are  _ not _ helping your case to stay.”

“Okay, okay hold on I can make it better. First thing, to be fair, are we ever safe? We are _no_ worse off than we normally are, does that phrasing make you feel better?” He took his feet down, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and that _stupid fucking_ _grin_ in place. “You wouldn’t leave me on my lonesome, either, you know why? Because I’d just call you again, and again! And you know that. I know you miss me, so there’s no harm in it, and you like to help. I just happen to need a lot of help!”

“Mental help, you psycho.”

“Hey! Look, I haven’t looked into that yet, so let’s not jump to conclusions.” He clapped, a dull sound muffled by his gloves, and rose to his feet again. Runa swore this bastard couldn’t sit still for longer than a couple minutes, and even then he was running his mouth the  _ whole damn time _ . “You know that funky little diner chain that started appearing on the 30k moons? I think there’s one nearby, we should stop! My treat.”

It was nice to have someone filling the silence, though. When he was alone, Runa longed to have someone to bounce conversation off of. But when  _ Gido _ was here, he wished for nothing more than pure silence. Maybe it was because anything with Gido was hardly a two-way talk. He turned to his left, beginning to put in the coordinates for the nearest location of the diner chain he had secretly become very well acquainted with. “What happened to me choosing where to go?”

“You were being a slow and not a proactive participant in the conversation, so I chose for you. Anyways,” Gido poked at some switches on the board.

“Hey, stop touching!”

“Sorry! Well, not.  _ Anyways _ , what’s been up with you?” Gido sat down again, crossing one leg over the other. “It’s been almost... gosh, awhile, hasn’t it? Three decrees?”

Runa nearly didn’t want to answer, wondering how much silence the scavenger could take before he started to squirm. But then he thought of what could come from his restlessness, and instead shrugged to himself. Indulging a little small talk could actually calm him down. “I worked as a temp on a star cruiser for a bit, then did some odd jobs in the Corsado System... nothing too interesting.” He snuck a glance to his right, to where Gido was watching him attentively. “You’re not dead or captured, so I guess these past months have been good to you?”

Gido didn’t answer right away, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he thought about what to say - probably what details wouldn’t alarm Runa and get his ass kicked off the ship. “I’ve been in and out of trouble, so far only went to jail  _ once _ over by Lux, immediately after we split up last, which is like - a record for me. I decided to lay low for a bit, and then got into  _ whopper _ trouble more... recently, when I accidentally...” He stretched in his seat, pausing to groan in relief when something popped satisfyingly. “ _ Oof,  _ well, uncovered some underground operations that you do  _ not  _ want to pay attention to.”

“Huh?”

“Oh! No, no worries...” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and flapping a hand dismissively. “I could have said that better. These were, well, not bad enough that you want to  _ deal _ with it, but bad enough that you gotta skidaddle out of there! Which is what I did! And it inevitably led to me smushing my... ship.”

He sighed dramatically, but said no more, and Runa could tell he was more butthurt about that fact than he wanted to let on.

“Sorry about that. Sounds like you’ve kept busy, though.”

This shifted the scavenger’s mood again, as easily as flicking a switch, and he smirked while leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “Of course, anything less than fun isn’t an option for me. S’why I called you up, you know? You’ve always got something going on.” 

For the umpteenth time in the short breadth of his presence, Runa rolled dark brown eyes in a reluctantly  _ fond _ exasperation. “You call me up because you know I avoid getting involved, and you like to ruin that.”

Mock-offended, Gido gasped and clutched at his chest. “Nothing gets ruined! You get me out of trouble, and I spice up your lonely, dull, bachelor lifestyle! Everyone wins.”

“The spice you add is anxiety and fear to my life.”

“So? I’ve never let you get hurt, have I?”

Runa prepared a retort, then furrowed his brow. “That’s... true. So far.”

“Perfect!” Again, that dulled, but energetic clap. “You’re gonna get me some food, we’re gonna sit at this diner and we’re going to decide where to go next, yeah? Who knows, maybe we’ll meet someone to send us off on a fun,  _ paid _ journey!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Runa held up a finger, pointing accusingly at Gido without even looking in his direction. “ _ You’re _ paying, you said it was your treat. I pay for fuel, you pay to feed us.”

And it was hard for the scavenger to even pout through the grin that split his face, a smile that Runa would - once again - hate to admit that he loved being the cause of. “Fine! Deal, it’s the least I can do!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Runa wonders how much he really knows Gido, and decides that maybe being friends won't be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter two!! If you've stuck with me this far, you are immediately my hero. It's scary putting Original Works out there, but thanks to readers like you, however few, I'm going to keep doing it!! <333

The moon was barren, chalky grey ground decorated with craters that were almost cute, with the sky above completely dark. The reflective surface shone brightly in the light of the distant sun, and coupled with the buzzing lights from the few lonely buildings gathered in a huddle by the landing zone, it made for a cosy escapade destination.

Runa’s ship landed quietly, now that he wasn’t nearly as aggravated as he had been before. Although, he did roll his eyes and retort sassily when Gido made a point to comment on it - even though it was nothing to take offense from. The ramp lowered just as smoothly, and the scavenger stretched his arms high above his head as they descended to the ground.

“Man, this is just great, isn’t it? Can you imagine the time before artificial atmosphere? We’d just be - choking right now. Totally dying. That’s  _ crazy.”  _ He yawned, patting his gloved hand over his mouth in a surprisingly polite gesture. “But yeah, just the two of us, back at it again!”

Staring at him, Runa tilted his head. “First thing. How can you find it in yourself to be excited all day, every day, over even the dumbest and most mundane of things? Secondly, there is no ‘again’, we  _ barely _ know each other.”

“Excuse me! I’ve known you for like - at least twelve revolutions, come on! That’s almost half my life!”

“I don’t even expect you to pardon me when I wish for each revolution to grow lesser and lesser and let the Chasm take us all.” Runa lied, really hoping that gaping hole at the center of everything stayed satisfied for as long as possible. He wasn’t keen on getting spaghettified, and tried his best to ignore the thought. “Let’s just go eat.”

Walking in front of him and spinning on his heel, Gido’s open cardigan flapped underneath his leather jacket. He began to pace backwards, peering at Runa’s figure intently, tapping his fingers against his lips. “What are you in the mood for? Gods, I hope you’re not on that awful cleanse diet or whatever, I don’t know how you didn’t leave that as an empty husk! Anyways, you looked ghastly but you’ve started to fill out again.” One traitorous finger struck out and managed to jab Runa in the tummy before he could block it, and the pilot squirmed away with a surprised cry.

“I was figuring out what I was allergic to! You can’t blame me after the incident with the - oh, you wouldn’t know.” Runa scowled and walked a few steps further away.

“Is this a story I’ve missed out on! Oh, I’d  _ better _ be hearing all about it soon. Anyways, come on, it doesn’t look crowded but it might be later!” Trotting ahead, Gido flung open the door to the diner, the neon lights lining the frame flaring as a chipper  _ buzz _ announced his entry.

“ _ Tsk.  _ Nevermind.” Runa followed, a complaint on his lips with every step.

~

The inside of the diner had checker-tiled flooring, red stools, green booths, silver metal  _ everywhere _ , and an extraordinarily  _ retro _ feeling to it; a niche style that had begun some few millennia ago on a tiny third planet, for some reason it stuck with these obscure fuel-stop locations. But hey, the food was fantastic for some reason, despite all the grease, so no one -  _ especially _ Runa - was going to protest.

Gido had already bounded over to a booth by the windows, despite there not being much to look at aside from the neighboring buildings, grey moon ground and a dark sky dotted with stars.  _ Okay, maybe that was actually quite nice. _

Runa slid into the seat opposite Gido, his knees briefly knocking against the scavenger’s outstretched legs under the table. He snorted to express his irritation rather than raise his gaze to meet the smug face of the other. He retrieved a menu pad from the side charger, clicking open the two sides and pulling them apart as a holographic catalog appeared between them. He swiped left.

“What do you think you want? Remember, I’m paying, so go ahead and go crazy. Well, not  _ too _ crazy.” Gido slotted his own menu closed, and folded his hands atop the table to beam at Runa. The whites of his teeth caught the neon lighting and the shine from the ground outside, sparkling a little, even as the mixed bulb colours cast him in faint rays of pink and blue.

Runa didn’t even know why he bothered with the menu. He closed it and plugged it back to the charger. “Waffles. I thought you knew me better than that,  _ friend _ .” He teased. 

“Amazing. Excellent choice.” Waving over a waitress, Gido leaned against the seat with both arms stretched across the backrest. 

“Decided?” The waitress had glowing green eyes, the entire orb of each connected to wiring that showed through the glass covering on the back of her head. She had a pretty smile, programmed to look kind when it could so easily be spooky.

“Waffles for the lanky cutie here,” Pointing across the table at him, the scavenger winked, a blond curl falling forward into his grey eye with the motion. The blue one that Runa could still see sparked with glee. “I’m having French Toast with extra sugar, fruit on the side,  _ not _ on top. And a chocolate milkshake. Anything else for you, hun?” His gaze was still fixed on his companion.

Something stirred in Runa’s chest, fluttering briefly in nostalgia as he remembered their shared love for breakfast food. This reminiscing, along with any expression in response to the flirts tossed his way, was hidden behind his ordinary, tired eyeroll. “I hate  _ you _ , but,” He turned to address the waitress  _ much _ more politely. “I’ll have a strawberry milkshake, please, with extra whipped cream.”

“Got it.” With that same smile, the waitress nodded, the order filed into her memory card for the evening as she went to tell the information to the cook. They both watched her go, seeming to unconsciously draw together, leaning across the table to talk more closely once she was gone.

Gido took his arms down from the seat, folding his hands under his thighs and shrugging his shoulders up quirkily. “Well? Come on, we can’t sit here in silence. Talk to me. What’s on your mind?”

“Honestly,” Runa indulged him, leaning closer across the table and propping his chin in his hand. “I’m thinking that I’m probably going to regret this.”

“Regret  _ what?  _ Hanging out with your very best friend in the whole wide everything? You can’t be upset about that!” Again, with that stupid pout that somehow could be entirely useless or devastatingly effective. Or both. “I’m talking about where you want to  _ go _ ? You must have been headed  _ somewhere _ before you came to rescue me!”

Runa rubbed the stubble on his jaw with the back of one hand, looking out the window to hopefully hide the blush that stained his cheeks. “That’s really not important...”

Really, it wasn’t. If he wanted to head to Supernova, that was his business. If he wanted to go to a nightclub, get shitfaced on the best alcohol in any galaxy he’d ever been to, that was his business. And, to top it off, if he wanted to get laid with a stranger just for the hell of it, only to wander off and get some incredible massage therapy before being on his merry way, again, that was  _ his  _ business. And the entirety of it revolved around the  _ unimportance _ of it all. Rich people with too much money to spend on things they didn’t need were the  _ only _ kind of people that could get in there; certainly not ex-bounty hunter scrappers like Gido. 

It was the one place Runa always knew he could hide in, if he ever  _ really _ wanted this energetic headache of a man to stop following him.

Clearing his throat, the pilot leaned forward once the heat had left his face. “We can go to Zoor, there are always jobs available there.”

Nodding, Gido frowned. It was a thoughtful frown, yes, but there was something a little bit...  _ more  _ to it. Runa couldn’t help but mirror the expression. “Hm. That seems far enough away. If you wanna stay there and get a whole bunch of credits before we head off, I’m game. That sounds fun, and like a smart idea. Good for  _ you _ , little pilot man!” And as soon as it had appeared, the frown vanished in place of that blinding smile as he giggled teasingly, kicking Runa underneath the table.

He almost didn’t register the playful assault to his shins, frowning still, now at the phrasing of Gido’s words.  _ Far enough away? _ “What will you do there?”

“I’m one of the best repairmen you can find, I could make some money for us whenever we plan to leave, even if I just do side jobs the whole time.”

That didn’t seem like a real plan, nor did it seem totally terrible. Gido  _ was _ exceptionally skilled with his hands. Wait. “I’ll pay you to do some upgrades on my ship, too.” He blurted out to cut off a previous train of thought.

Waving those very hands in the air, Gido’s eyes widened innocently. “Oh, no no no! You don’t have to pay me! For real, of  _ all  _ people, I’m not going to take money from  _ you.  _ No worries there.”

Runa blinked in surprise, having expected Gido to make some cheeky remark and accept his offer wholeheartedly. He hesitated before responding, wondering how much more he would actually need to  _ learn _ about this scavenger if they were going to be stuck together for awhile longer. 

Sure, they had known each other for quite a long time… But every encounter was brief, a run-in when one of them (usually Gido, clearly) needed help, or a chance meeting passing through a trading stop. The longest they had ever spent together was a jaunt from Eskeple to Wryk, and even that wasn’t any grand distance to boast of.

Yes, they had known each other for about twelve revolutions; but it was more like they knew  _ of _ each other, rather than the individual themself.

The young pilot was suddenly hit with the horrifying thought that maybe he -  _ wanted _ to let Darra stay with him. Maybe he  _ wanted  _ to get to know him, really establish this strange friendship that they could have had all along if they ever had the patience to agree on something.

Oh,  _ oh no. _

“I… don’t need to pay you? Are you positive?” Runa’s voice came out a little choked, stunned by the rush of conclusions his mind had leapt to.

“Completely, one hundred percent.” Gido’s smirk and barely-taunting tone was enough to shatter whatever awe Runa had briefly been put under. As well as his following line, “You give me just enough by sitting right there, hun.”

And he  _ winked _ , and yeah, that spell was broken. Runa rubbed his forehead. “Ah, yeah, no thanks, but uh… thanks. For the work.”

“I know, no problem.” Leaning back, Gido ran his fingers through his hair - with some effort, as it was mussy and just a little tangled - sighing in thought as his eyes traced the patterns on the ceiling. “Zoor it is, then. How long do you want to stay, how much money you wanna earn? ‘Cause if we have another place in mind to go after that, it’ll make leaving on time much easier.”

Pursing his soft lips, Runa looked Gido over when he wasn’t looking. And taking a chance, he put the offer on the table. “Is there somewhere  _ you _ want to go? You’ve been pushing to plan more than I would… expect from you. And it’s gotta be somewhere relatively safe, by my standards.”

Gido looked out the window then, pausing as if considering some difficult options, but the set of his jaw betrayed all too well that he already knew his answer. He was…  _ stalling,  _ for some reason? Runa didn’t like that. 

“Somewhere… new.” He muttered, that same deep voice smoothed over as if in a whisper. “Or somewhere I haven’t been recently. I was thinking… What about the Queyfan Circuit? It’s calmer out there.”

“And  _ really _ far away,” His companion couldn’t help but scoff, eyes wide and brow furrowed in confusion. Of  _ all _ the places, Runa would never have pegged him to aim for agrarian planets. He must be missing some huge parts of this guy’s story, much more than he even assumed before.

Gido shrugged. “There are still some busy cities, there’s 37 planets to choose from in that pocket alone.” He picked at a loose thread on his glove, looking down at his hands. Tiny traces of old burns snaked around the skin of his fingers. “It might be nice.”

This was  _ so  _ confusing, but not… in a dreadful, panic-inducing way. Runa pegged himself as curious, intrigued more than anything else that could describe how he felt. “That… That works. If that’s what you want. You’re not going to get me killed, so I don’t see a reason to question you or complain…”

If he was serious about them being friends, Gido would open up to him eventually if he had to, right? The idiot could barely keep his mouth closed, Runa didn’t stress about whether or not his questions would be answered on their own.

“All jokes aside, when we get to that point, you don’t have to feel inclined to stay. I know settling down isn’t really your thing… So let’s just try and stretch out our time together in between, yeah?” Attempting to lighten the mood, the earnesty in the silly scavenger’s tone was enough to keep the pilot sober throughout his jests.

Brown eyes, made warm in the light around them, dragged over the posture of the man before him. It was probably painfully obvious, but Runa didn’t care; let it come off as wary, instead. That trait was nothing new on him. “Sorry if I’m wrong, but you don’t seem ready to settle down either. Like, at all. Didn’t you  _ just  _ say that anything that wasn’t fun wasn’t worth doing?”

“No no no, don’t you get it? It’s something new! It will be fun, but not in a blood pressure-spiking, stressful way! Fun doesn’t have to mean adrenaline all the time, as much as I adore a good rush…” Waving his hands vaguely, he continued. “There’s only so much  _ space stuff _ a guy can take before he needs a break. Not a  _ forever _ break, certainly not. Just a hiatus.”

“A hiatus? From… huh. Fine, okay.” Runa flapped one hand in thin air as well, dismissive of their conversation as their food arrived to be set in front of them with delicious, steaming aromas. “Just eat instead. You look terrible.”

“Better than you, you’re a beanpole. At least I’ve got brawn.” But of course, Gido was already speaking around a mouthful of food, contradicting even his famished state with his words.

Runa rolled his eyes, but smiled to himself while they enjoyed some cosy, peaceful moments in each other’s company. 

He didn’t want to admit it, but this was the kind of thing that  _ friends _ did. And being friends wasn’t turning out to be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed it, it would mean the world - and I respond to each and every one!!
> 
> Support this story and the rest of my work by following me on Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main), @juggled-muse (writing), or on Twitter @thirthfloor!! Every bit helps!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being together on a ship teaches Runa some new things about his new friend's habits, and raises a question or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've made it this far - I cannot thank you enough!! Thank you so much for picking this story to read!

The course set for Zoor was a bit of a distance, but there was an easy current track to follow with hardly any obstacles or worrisome traffic. Runa didn’t have to bother with steering, trusting autopilot and his years of experience with this ship to signal him if there was an issue. So now, he sat in front of a loose panel on the corridor wall, a toolbox next to him and a radio playing some obscenely loud music from nothing short of decades ago.

He was starting to get an ache on his right temple, where the neat braid of his dark bun was just a little too tight. The edge of his goggles, digging into the tender skin around his eyes, wasn’t particularly helping; but he much preferred the discomfort over what the tiny sparks coming from the workspace could do to his face.

One thing that Runa was not expecting from travelling with Gido was the amount of  _ sleep  _ that man actually got. With that much energy, the pilot expected - with worry - for him to be bouncing off the walls at any and all hours, but what he had gotten was nothing short of a pleasant surprise, if not a sort of disappointment. 

Gido slept a  _ lot.  _ He nearly doubled the amount of whatever Runa dared to knock out for, and he slept heavily too. A couple times, brief alarms or buzzers had gone off, and there had been no sign of him. If it weren’t for the bits of food that slowly started disappearing from the ship’s pantry, he may have even forgotten that the scavenger was even aboard.

That all came to justify why Runa let out a shocked, pinched scream and jumped enough to drop what he was holding when he looked to his left to see Gido standing next to him, arms limp at his sides and shoulders slouched beneath a baggy, hideous blue and grey-checked sweater.

“O-oh, gods you’re awake!” Was what he managed to choke out, a statement to which Gido didn’t respond to at first. Instead, he squinted, cheeks almost puffy and thin lips pushed in a pout. Sleepy, disoriented, and completely cloud-brained.

It was one of the  _ cutest _ fucking things Runa had seen in a long time, a grown man looking like a sleepwalker. Utterly hilarious and  _ definitely _ something worth bringing up later when Gido’s ego needed to be knocked down a few pegs. He bit his lip to hold back a laugh, smiling just enough.

“Mhm.” Gido nodded lazily after a few beats, his hair flopping, unkempt over his forehead. “S’too loud.” He crouched down near the radio and jabbed at a few buttons, finally disturbing a knob enough to have the sound of the instruments fade into a lyrical whisper rather than a blasted immersion. Then he got on his knees and scooted up next to where Runa was perched in front of the wall.

Runa blinked. “Oh? Well... Sorry, about that.” He genuinely didn’t mean to bother him, but after all the feats of heavy sleeping he had demonstrated, Runa hadn’t expected some music to faze him.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it.” Shrugging with one shoulder, Gido rubbed his eyes with the other hand and peered intently at the exposed wiring in front of him. He held one hand out, and under the bright lighting of the hallway, Runa could see the distinct burn lines that webbed over his palm and disappeared past a dangling charm bracelet into his sleeve. 

The ones here were white and pasty as opposed to the minor licks he had seen poking out of the gloves before. While he was sure they were fine now, they looked like they came from something dreadfully painful once upon a time. The pilot frowned at them, aware now of the delicacy of his own hands, usually sheltered under heavy leathers and softer fabrics.

The hand opened and closed, fingers flapping impatiently. “Lemme do it. Gimme the tool box.”

“Oh, right...” 

Runa watched him work, quickly and efficiently even though the grey bags under his eyes didn’t go away and the puff of his cheeks was still cutely outlined by light, tousled hair. He went through a set of carefully practiced motions, nothing more than muscle memory now, and Runa couldn’t quell the sneaky admiration that crept into his mind. Gido always bragged about how he could fix anything, how he was one of the best, and Runa had never  _ really _ doubted him... But seeing it in action, even at a task as menial as this, he could tell where years of learning and practice had clearly come into play.

Runa thought to correct him once, “What are you...? Oh.  _ Oh _ . Yeah, that works,” and then decided to just sit, enjoy the comfortable tranquility so rarely experienced in Gido’s silence, and watch.

A short while later, Gido yawned, a soft noise that was easily covered by the clattering of putting tools away. As if reading Runa’s earlier thoughts, he smirked and mumbled, “Told you I’m one of the best,” as if he was talking to himself. Then he patted the paneling and stood, wobbling a little and running a hand through his hair. “If there’s a problem, let me know if I don’t notice first, yeah?”

“I’ll let you know.” Runa responded, gazing up at him from where he sat on the floor, noticing more the way the fluorescent lighting in the hall haloed around his head. A real smile, something affectionate and grateful pulled at his features. “I’ll let you get back to sleep, too. Sorry for waking you.”

“No worries, I’m catching up anyways... Didn’t sleep much this past rev.” Runa tilted his head at that - this past  _ revolution? - _ but Gido wasn’t finished. “Also you just have bad taste in music.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m going back to bed!” Grinning, Runa assumed the attempt was to be teasing, but the effect was entirely ruined by the dopey, exhausted way it just softened his whole presence. And if that hadn’t done it already, Gido misjudging the doorframe and knocking into it on the way into his cabin  _ certainly _ ruined any superiority that came from this encounter. 

Runa chuckled, gathering the things from the ground. “Bad taste, my ass... He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed - I respond to each and every one!!
> 
> Support me, my work, and the bois on my social media!! Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main), @juggled-muse (writing), and on Twitter @thirthfloor. 
> 
> I take all comments, questions, and concerns!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gido loves telling crazy stories to make people laugh. It works on Runa, to his surprise, and Runa slowly begins to accept how much he enjoys this scavenger's company.

Runa talked to himself a lot. It was a force of habit, really, as he was used to being alone in this ship and spending this time to carefully craft comebacks to arguments lost long ago. As he was now, deeply invested in a rant about some scamming merchant dastard that had cost him enough credits for a half-empty canister of pod particles. He should have seen through it, but usually it wasn’t an item to be swindled around.

“I dunno what you’re talking about, but that guy sounds like an asshole.”

Runa threw a hand up absentmindedly, frustrated beyond what was likely good for his blood pressure. “I  _ know _ , he was... I should have,” He paused. “Wait.” Whipping around in his chair he sneered with wide eyes at Gido, who leaned against the wall and grinned like a  _ dolt _ . “Don’t do that!”

“Don’t do what? Check on my best friend, who seems to be losing a fight to empty air?” Laughing innocently, Gido walked forward and made himself comfortable in the co-pilot’s seat. “You ever been in a Nebulaic Mass before? Not a Nebula, that’s easy. I’m talking about the living thing...”

“Feet off the dash.” Runa sighed, spinning his chair to swat out a hand and knock Gido’s boots from the control panel. “And no, that sounds stupid and dangerous, more like something you’d do... So, I’m assuming you’ve done it?”

“ _ Yes.”  _ Gido breathed with a sort of reverence, crossing his legs underneath him instead. 

Runa sucked in a breath to complain about his shoes being on the seat, but sensed that it wouldn’t be worth it if this conversation were turning into one of Gido’s senseless rambles. Which it seemed very likely to be heading in that direction. Finally, he rolled his eyes and gave in, leaning back to get comfortable. “Alright, what happened?”

Lighting up, Gido clapped his hands together to signal the start of his tale. “It was  _ totally _ an accident, but it was awesome. See, the differences between Masses and Nebulas is that Masses form near the surfaces of planets, even to the point of touching them.  _ Usually  _ they feed off the particles in the atmospheres, but sometimes they creep down to eat whatever is on the ground too.”

“Yum.” The pilot commented offhandedly. 

“Right? Anyways, Nebulas are just gas and starry shit, you know? But the Masses are all of that and  _ more _ . Trillions and trillions of single-cell organisms forming into a cloud, devouring whatever they feel like if they’re given enough time. To consume an entire person would probably take no more than a decree, if they  _ really _ wanted to.” Shrugging, Gido leaned back as well, tapping his lips with a dangerous smirk. “Most are benign but, you can piss ‘em off good.”

“For the gods’ sake, Gido,” Runa scolded with the most affection he could bear to put forth, “you’re telling me that you knew it could possibly  _ eat _ you, and you still went in one?”

Gido touched a finger to his nose. “ _ Precisely _ . To be fair, I was running from an angry guild of mercenaries, so it worked in my favour. See, they knew vaguely of the Mass but not enough to worry about what it could do.”

Runa furrowed his brow. “Gido, did you lead these men to their death?”

“Honestly,” Runa didn’t like that look, “I’m not sure. But, now, this one was thick, like a dark purple, you know? With some pretty orange, and this flattering yellow I’d actually never looked for before... And also, this area was loaded down with all kinds of foliage, and these fools didn’t know what they were up against in this mist... So, what if I tricked them around, to get them off my back? It was the perfect setting.”

Realising that he was entirely roped in now, Runa indulged him with a hefty sigh. “What did you do?” And his tone may have been a  _ little _ condescending.

The chair clicked as Gido leaned forward, planting his feet on the floor and his elbows on his knees. “I hid in the trees, starting shouting down at them, anything I could think of. Mostly riddles or obscure song lyrics.”

“Like what?”

“ _ When the moon hits your eye like a-” _

“Okay, stop, gods you’re awful.”

“Fine, anyhow, by that point, I had started jumping around and actually fell from one of the trees and sprained my wrist! But I succeeded in my goal, I scared the piss out of them pretty quickly. They started arguing with each other in the fog, thinking it was me!”

“Hold on,” Runa held a hand up and scoffed, offended. “Is me talking to myself what’s bringing on this story? I need to start locking that door, keep your nose out of my business.”

“Well just  _ listen _ and I’ll get it over with then! At this point, I was trying to sneak around them and get out of there in all the chaos, as my skin had started to get prickly, when I heard probably the youngest member of the group aim his blaster at me. And in all earnesty, he shouted, ‘I’m not afraid of you, spirit!’ Which of course, started to  _ really  _ spook the others.”

“What did you do?”

“I just stood there, I didn’t know  _ what  _ to do!” Gido started laughing at himself, cheeks pinkening just slightly. Runa smiled, finding relief in seeing him enjoying himself, even at the expense of a long,  _ actually  _ funny story, now that he pictured it: Gido shouting nonsense into the fog at a group of what were likely teenagers.

“I just said,” And at this point, Gido lowered his voice to a comically deep level, voice breaking and growling, “ ‘You already are.’ And he just started screaming!”

“Anyone would scream, hearing that voice!” Runa couldn’t stop himself, laughter bubbling up, getting more infectious when Gido joined in. “What even  _ was _ that? A panic-move?”

“Absolutely! But it worked, and I walked out easy as pie! The big lesson of the story,” Gido clapped his hands together to signify the end, “is not to bother arguing with open air, because on the offchance that it says something back that stumps you, you’ll feel  _ really  _ stupid.”

Runa laughed more, wheezing out something about the total idiocy of the story and what a fool Gido even was... and felt light. The laughter was nice, the company was nice, the smile was natural. He just... wow. Oh no.  _ Oh no. What was this? _

And Gido had this blissful look on his face, a fond expression directed entirely at the pilot in front of him. Heat flushed to Runa’s cheeks, something he hid behind his hand as he turned his chair back to face forward, giggles dying down into a sigh. He shook himself out of his daze, came down from the high.

Gido really liked telling stories, it was a clear realisation. It had always been something that the pilot had found a little annoying, but now it came off in an entirely new perspective;  _ less  _ annoying, that was for sure, but also... endearing? He seemed to really enjoy making people smile, recounting his risky adventures with energy and pitch so that whoever he was telling could get a kick out of it, without having to  _ do  _ anything. It was a perfect level of vicarious incredulousness for Runa.

He loved it. The company, the ridiculousness of it all. It was just…  _ so  _ Gido Darra, a legend if there was one. That was  _ his _ friend.

“You have a nice smile, I’ve said that before.”

“You have,” And as easily as that, he brushed it aside, ignoring the jolting pulse of his heart and clearing his throat.

Gido still smiled at him, as if he could hear his heartbeat and read his thoughts. Runa shifted, almost uncomfortable but  _ not _ quite. Something had changed after that story, as strange and out-of-place it was. “What are we doing for the rest of the day? Where are we landing?”

Shrugging, a simple gesture to the distant planet before them vaguely answered his inquiry. “Find some work? These types of planets always have races, and I figured with your... tinkering, someone always needs something fixed. We can fuel up and get some credits before moving out again.”

“How much is parking?”

“50 credits. It’s shit, right? For one day?”

“Terrible. I can get that much covered for sure, like you said, something’s always broken somewhere.” Gido’s eyebrow twitched in that way when he was getting an idea, but he didn’t voice it, so Runa could only assume it was something he didn’t want to hear. “And we can make it to Zoor tomorrow night if we leave in the morning and go straight on from there.”

“Mhm...” Runa bit his lip, squinting a little as he carefully lowered his ship onto a parking dock. “That’s right. Don’t let me forget to refill the water tank and get food as well.”

“For sure! This will be fun, getting out, don’t stress at all. You’re with me, now.”

“That’s exactly a reason to stress! Look - I don’t care what you do but, just, don’t bring trouble and  _ don’t  _ come to my race. You’ll get dragged into something that will only be an issue, I can feel it and I don’t trust it.”

“Well with  _ that  _ attitude,” Gido’s brow twitched again, and Runa frowned, “I’m surprised you let me out of your sight at all. What time is curfew, mother?”

“Gods, don’t... ew. Just be back here before dark.”

“Outstanding!” Clapping to celebrate the end of the conversation, Gido rose to his feet and bounced on his heels. He was still half-a-head shorter than the pilot, especially with the platforms of Runa’s boots giving him extra edge, which Runa would have found oddly cute if he wasn’t slightly concerned about that glint in his blue and grey eyes. “Out we go!”

Runa sighed quietly as Gido swept past him to take on this new city as if he owned it. “ _ Please _ don’t get into any fights... Of all things. Just no fights.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed - I respond to each and every one!!
> 
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> 
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> 
> Again, thank you so much!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Runa enters a race. Gido bets on him.
> 
> Running from a fight, they find their way to a roof under the light of an emerald moon.
> 
> Runa struggles to process a pain, brought on by a longing he can't describe.

Gido shifted his weight from left to right, freezing in the stands, peering down at the makeshift track that had been assembled on the street within moments. It was colder on this planet than others, when both suns were behind the massive moon, reflecting a murky green from their light. 

He kept his stare fixed on Runa, watching as he prepared his pod, checking each bolt and pipe, tempering the engine in a sort of anxious productivity before the adrenaline of the coming race got to him. His goggles nestled over his face, hair tied back, and Gido smiled fondly at the thought of the red lines that surely would be left around his eyes when removed.

“What’s your bet, blondie?” Gido’s right shoulder rocked forward as he was pushed, and he looked up at a hulking mass of a sweaty Herkel, violet skin glistening in contrast with the emerald evening light that shone on the city. 

Their species was designed for these professions, organising gambling and betting, but that didn’t always entail attractiveness to come with intelligence. Gido was thankful for the lack of sweat glands possessed by the master, his smile turning pensive as he considered his final chances.

“I’ll put an additional hundred credits on the back leftsman, Vero.”

Snorting, the Herkel raised one droopy brow at him. “That’ll raise your placement to 200 before the race has begun.”

“I’ll take those chances, Master.”

A buzzer sounded down near the track, strobe lights flashing red to signal the final positioning, for pilots to get in their seats. Gido handed his credit disks to the Herkel with little recognition before pushing his way through the crowd to stand at the railing of the third deck. He rubbed his hands together, spotting his friend among the racers.

Runa had told him not to come. And how he would be at Gido’s throat if he knew the scavenger had placed almost half of what he earned today in a bet towards his victory in the event.

Runa liked to race in peace, his own sliver of release, of freedom and pure adrenaline. This was his time to let loose.

And gods, how Gido had wanted to see it.

~

The bastard had cheated him. _Cheated_. Out of a good race and even better win. Runa dragged himself out of the narrow seat of his overturned pod, got to his feet, and promptly kicked the side as hard as he could.

Loose metal rattled, and a back thruster collapsed onto the ground. He would have worried about making a scene, but a fight had broken out in the stands right after his second lap. He didn’t worry much about jeers being thrown his way when the regular chaos of little, dingy planets like this had already taken centerstage to the race.

The slowest of the pods rushed past him, brisk wind whipping flyaways about his face and brushing on the exposed skin of his stomach. He scowled and hooked his thumbs under the buckles of his dungarees, contemplating whether to wait here till the end or just march off in shame and meet Gido at the ship.

It was already after dark, he had broken his own curfew. _Whatever_. If being entirely pissed off upon his return wasn’t an answer, he would tell the scavenger something else to get the inevitable teasing off his back.

He tugged his goggles from his face, pushing them up to rest atop his head and turned away, scrubbing leather-gloved hands over the marks around his eyes. He almost punched himself in the nose when something knocked into his elbow, or rather, latched onto it and started jostling it impatiently.

“Hey, hey hun!” Gido spoke breathlessly, dancing around Runa on light feet when the pilot gaped at him, shocked by his sudden appearance. “We gotta skidaddle, okay? Like, we’ve gotta _go_.”

“Gido, I _told_ you not to come to this. You should be waiting for me on the ship.” Runa spat out, not meaning to sound as bitter as he did. But he was pissed, and certainly not in the mood to lecture the scavenger; yet with the wide-eyed look he was receiving, it seemed like he just may have to. “Fights are normal at these things, just stick out of it and we’ll be fine. I need to figure out when in the seven hells I’m going to get a tow unit to get my pod back to the docks.”

“Can you bother to figure that out another time, maybe Runa, dear? I caused it, knocked a big gal into an even bigger guy. And I stole. But it’s okay!” He bumbled out before Runa’s furiously exasperated expression could form words, waving his hands and taking a step back. “If we can get out of here, that is! But - but hey, come on, snap out of it! You won the race in my eyes, whoo! Now let’s _go_.”

His expression was pleading. There was something there, something more he wanted to explain, but there was no time. Runa sighed, wondering how he could have expected more, and figured the scolding could come later once they were safe. The last thing he needed was to _bail_ Gido out of this planet’s slammer as well.

“Fine, fine, shit.” Leaning away when the finalists of the race sped by with the roars of pod engines, Runa gathered a fistful of the back of Gido’s jacket into his hand - eyeing the bulging backpack over his shoulders, and the dented metal box that didn’t quite fit inside - and shoved him towards the nearest alleyway. “This way, let’s go while the race is still on.”

Gido nodded eagerly, falling into step with Runa’s long strides when he was released. Comfortable with their safety, he grinned and prodded his fingers into his companion’s side, just beneath the hem of his cut black turtleneck. Runa swatted his wrist away from the exposed skin. “Okay, for the record, I just wanted to say that you were amazing and totally going to win! That dickwad cheated, _obviously_ , but they don’t have rules in place for that here!” He wagged his eyebrows, a smirk forming out of the bright smile. “They _also_ don’t have security on the gambling, so I… made a _withdrawal,_ you could s-”

A shout, sounding more like a frightening gargle, echoed behind them, bouncing off the high metal-plated walls of the buildings beside them. Both men whipped around to see the source, and even through the gathered shadows from the narrow pass, could see the angered cluster of what were likely members of the fight in the stands.

There were only four of them, but that was four too many.

“Okay, run!” Gido waited only a beat, shoving Runa forward with both hands until he was running.

“Hey, you too!” Runa swung an arm out behind him on instinct, surprised that Gido met the motion and grasped his wrist. When he caught up, the grip gradually slid down to clasp his hand tightly, and they ran.

Between breaths, Gido directed, “We have to get up high, if we go to your ship they’ll just destroy her. We’ve gotta hide, and there’s a building by the canal that can - go, go, go, turn left!” 

Runa was shoved into a curve, skidding onto his toes to not careen into the filthy, dark canal that roared like wind howling through a canyon. Only the gods knew what waste was coursing through that water to give it the appearance of hot tar. A small ladder hung over the edge, with merely a foot of space to walk along to reach it.

“Are you _kidding_ me, you’ve got to be, Gido you absolute _bastard_ …” Whining entirely to himself, Runa took a deep breath and tiptoed along the ledge, grabbing the ladder and carefully making his way up. He did _not_ like how it rattled.

“Up, carefully… Don’t slip, Runa.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” The response was automatic, but as Runa hauled himself over the lip of the roof and looked down at Gido, still on the ground and watching for him to safely reach the top, he felt a twinge of guilt. _He was trying to be helpful…_ Damnit, the idiot was too _nice_! “Come on, your turn.”

And shattering the guilt right there, Gido snorted and responded in a horrendously mocking tone, “ _Don’t tell me what to do._ ”

Runa rolled his eyes, cringing when a squeak came from Gido’s boot slipping just a little; but soon he was knocked over by the scavenger hurling himself onto the roof, leaving him not even a moment to worry. Gido nudged him into a corner beneath the ledge, wedging the bag and box between them _just so_ efficiently. One arm rested over Runa’s waist to keep him down, and yet it was _right_ on the space between his shirt and the open back of his cargo dungarees. 

The silence, save for their panting breaths, was broken by Gido’s whisper. “This is a dirty street city, they don’t spend time on the roofs here, you can tell by how they’ve been weathered.” He gestured around vaguely. “We just need to wait for the main chaos to stop, and then we can get back to your ship. They won’t recognise you, and as long as they don’t see the bag, they shouldn’t recognise me.”

Runa focused on catching his breath, concerned when it started shaking. Gido looked over at him. And then, the quivering breaths dissolved into giggles, puffing out like smoke in the cold air around them.

“What’s so funny?” Gido tilted his head, worry fading from his face as he offered a confused smile in response.

“I fucking knew I’d regret this,” but something about it all was just so _funny._ They were safe and sweaty and breathless, and it all just felt _good_. It was hilarious, even as the chill air made his throat ache. “I thought I told you not to get into any fights?”

“I wasn’t _involved_ , I just started it and then bolted! I only punched once, I didn’t see where it went.” Encouragement shone on every cheerful part of his face, and Runa swallowed dryly. “Plus, this is not bad, this is _fun_! See, fun. We’re okay, no one got hurt on our watch, and we did something we didn’t plan on doing tonight. That’s fun!”

He had to clear his throat to respond. “Your definition of fun is… strange. Crazy.”

“It’s right though, isn’t it? All those things, plus a best friend? Fun.” Gido rolled onto his back, draping one arm lazily over his stomach and folding the other beneath his head. He gazed up at the sky, the green light of the moon sparkling turquoise on his blue eye, shining jade against the grey of the other.

Runa curled up snugly, watching him from a distance that suddenly felt very far away. “I could do without the danger…”

“Mhm. Life’s dangerous, though.” The scavenger caught his bottom lip between his teeth, chewing thoughtfully before speaking again. “If we didn’t do stuff that scared us, then someone big and bad would take over. We’d be drones. Things are only scary because they break some sort of rule, but someone’s gotta cause trouble, or no one would think anything for themselves.”

He fell silent then, once again worrying his lip as discomfort pulled at his brow.

Runa didn’t understand the expression that followed, but the sincerity of the words sunk into his blood. “Well… yeah. But you should save fighting for when it really matters.”

“Oh, of course,” Gido agreed with a nod. “I never want to fight, fighting is ugly. Tussles, brawls, and lots of running, that’s fine. That just happens. But I… I don’t ever want to hurt people.”

He finished the sentence as if talking to himself.

It was so quiet.

Runa whispered, “I know you don’t.”

A few beats passed. Then Gido pushed himself back onto his stomach, propping up on his elbows. “We should be safe to head back to the docks now, it’s quieted down and no one has come this way.”

Shaking his head, fuzziness drifting from his mind like clouds, Runa sat up and peeked over the ledge of the roof. “Yeah, there’s no one here, we’re good.”

“There’s a back street between the wall and the edge of the buildings, with a track for the trash bots. It leads right to the docks, we should take that route just in case.”

“Sounds safe enough, unless they mistake _you_ for trash with that getup.” Runa rose to his feet, pulling Gido up by the sleeve of his leather jacket, the only piece of his clothing that wasn’t a mismatched cloth. 

Gido swept up the bag before scoffing and batting his hand away. He bantered even as he lowered himself over the side, taking the rickety ladder down to street level. “Speak for yourself, with _that_ hair?”

“My hair is artfully tousled!” Runa tried to keep his protests from getting too loud as he followed, landing quietly on the stone. Gido had waited for him before they began walking to the edge of the towering wall that snaked through the city, searching for the narrow tracks that would lead them to the ship docking. “You’re wearing rags thrown together to vaguely resemble clothes.”

“Hey, it’s an _assortment_ of _complete_ articles, they aren’t rags. Plus, I’m warm and comfortable, so what? It’s freezing out here.” The pass narrowed up ahead, Gido slipped through while he talked, but suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“Bag’s stuck.”

“Oh, Gido…”

“Can you push? Not too hard, I don’t wanna fall.”

Runa didn’t push. He kicked, the platformed sole of his boot connecting satisfyingly with whatever metal box was crammed into that bag. Gido yelped and stumbled forward, a string of sloppy curses escaping before he fell and barely caught himself on hands and knees.

After a moment of basking in what just transpired, Gido got up and turned just enough to see Runa and the unmistakably smug grin plastered to his face. Gido’s expression was blank, if not sorely disappointed. “You won’t be laughing like that when you’re buying me new clothes with the credits I got you tonight. Or when that trash bot behind you deems you ripe for the picking.”

Runa stiffened when the narrow passageway was suddenly illuminated by the headlights of one of the bots, a clanky rattle announcing the nearing movement of its treads. Something in him shrivelled and died a little, realising that as harmless as this bot may be, it would pluck anything from the ground and cast them into the disposal to be ground to bits.

So, maybe not that harmless. Which meant they had to run again.

“Aw, hells.”

~

Gido bounced on his heels, rubbing his hands together before shoving them in his pockets. He had gotten to the ship first, and was certainly not as contently warm as he had claimed to be. He whined impatiently.

“Sorry, sorry, gotta add you to the system still…” Runa apologised once he caught up, doing a bio scan to unlock the outer doors, moving to step inside when Gido zoomed past him to the welcoming interior.

When Runa finally caught up, Gido was seated comfortably in the lounge with the bag cast aside, the metal box that had been smashed inside now open to reveal… Woah.

That was a _lot_ of credit disks, and some metal cards, even a few slender bricks that Runa _knew_ could be made into something useful. Wandering over, Runa didn’t know whether to feel sorely disappointed or immensely proud. “You… really stole everything.”

“Yeah, so?” Gido smirked and waved his hand over a neat stack of nearly 400 credits worth of disks. “This is all mine, and I wasn’t about to lose it. Their guy cheats, I cheat right back.”

And the smile that came with it was so hopeful, how could Runa _not_ be proud of that face?

“I should have seen it coming,” He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe separating this room from the main hall. “The pilot wouldn’t stop shittalking before the race. They probably planned this out.”

“Exactly, which is why I did this! Congratulations, hun, you’re a winner to me!” He smiled so adorably, flashing jazz-hands to decorate his congrats. “Anyways, we should get your pod early tomorrow morning and then get out of here. I feel like, generally, our stay is up.”

“Speaking of staying, how long should we stay on Zoor? I don’t know what plans you have, so I don’t know if it matters…” Runa thought back to the conversation on the rooftop, and the one in the diner, and how they were so different than others he had before. His stomach twisted.

Gido pursed his lips, stacking the disks and metals neatly before placing them back into the box. “Maybe a decree? It seems like a long time, but… I mean, it would be nice to really settle and get some work in before we move out. I’m not sure what jobs we can find out towards the Queyfan, I’ve never been that far…”

“It can’t be that much different than what we find here, races and repairs… we’ll be okay.” Runa paused. _We._

The twist in his stomach coiled tighter. It hurt. He wanted to go to bed, and yet he wanted to stay here.

Gido smiled, that bright beam that lit up the room even as all the lights were on. “Great! In all honesty, though, sorry for bringing it up again, but I think you did wonderfully tonight. You would have won without that jackass, believe me. I don’t bet on losers.”

Runa blinked, arms uncrossing and dropping to his sides. “You bet on me?”

Tilting his head as he stood, Gido’s hair shadowed his brow just _so_ , in that perplexed way that came when it seemed there nothing to be confused about. “Of course, I’ve seen you fly and do much more, winning a silly pod race should have been cake for you.” He turned to face Runa, leaning against the wall as well, on the opposite side of the corner.

“Well, I live to disappoint.” Runa looked down.

Gido shifted closer. “Never with me, Runa. You exist to surprise. And that’s hardly a bad thing.” No hesitation.

“Only if you like surprises.” That pain in his core spoke for him, something wanting to pull away while so much of him wanted to glance up again, and meet that too-sweet gaze.

“Did I say that I didn’t?” Gido pushed off the wall, bowing into Runa’s view to get his attention. Reluctantly and gratefully, Runa followed his face, met his eyes as he grinned. “I don’t think I did, so assume that I _love_ surprises.”

It was something so silly, and yet the thought of missing moments like this was starting to hurt. Runa knew there were places out there for him to see, he _knew_ that he couldn’t bear to be grounded, but if Gido was really meaning to stay wherever the end of this escapade led him… Runa didn’t want to see it. He wanted to live up his time with the scavenger, and yet talking so intimately like this made him anxious for what was to come. _What was this?_

He shook his head. “Most people don’t like surprises, but I guess you’re not most people.”

“I’m not, and I figured you’d say that. It would do you well to start thinking outside the box with me, or I might end up confusing your expectations too.”

“Huh. I don’t think anyone could put you in a box for long.”

Gido laughed, brightly and richly, that tenor singing out so nicely. “It would still be fun to see _you_ try.” He reached out and clapped a hand onto Runa’s shoulder, two pats before letting it rest where it was. “We’ll get your pod in the morning, then we can head out. All after a good night’s sleep. You should have won that race, why don’t you dream it? That would be nice.”

“Sounds like a plan, only if you’ll sleep too. Up by lunch tomorrow?” Runa offered a small smile, hoping its lack of visible enthusiasm would pass under the excuse of exhaustion.

“Perfectly alright with me, hun. Only because you’re making it.” Gido left no room for debate, winking and nudging the pilot back into the hall. “Go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SO much for reading this far!! PLEASE leave a comment if you enjoyed - I respond to each and every one!!
> 
> Support me and my writing on social media!! Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main), @juggled-muse (writing), or Twitter @thirthfloor!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Runa and Gido arrive at the production hub of Zoor, one of the most accountable planets within the Greater Galaxy. 
> 
> Something is wrong with Gido, something that makes him nervous.
> 
> They try for a bit of domesticity.

Zoor was a sight to behold, skyscrapers visible once Runa’s ship crested through the atmosphere. The glare from the early morning light reflected off every surface of the towers, shining metal and reflective glass screaming of efficiency and production. Runa held a hand over his eyes to shield them from the light, familiar with massive, bustling hubs such as this one. Landcrafts were zooming through the skylanes, crisscrossing in complicated patterns to traverse the city at all times. 

Soon enough, two guide pods rushed over to fly alongside the craft, directional signs indicating Runa towards the available landing lot, one of many zones for the dozens of other ships breaking through the cloud cover that separated this bright place from the dark void beyond.

Gido came to the cockpit once the ship touched ground. He didn’t say much, crossing his arms and leaning against the entryway as he watched Runa transfer the parking payment from the main console.

Runa sat still for a moment, watching the awaiting welcome crew gather around the front of the ship, before sighing and getting up. “They never have long enough pants for me, I hate customs checks. Especially for places like this.”

Snorting quietly, Gido glanced out the window before shifting his eyes to the floor. “I’m sure they’ll be able to put something together, let’s just get it over with…”

Runa nodded in agreement, although he didn’t like something about the scavenger’s tone, nor the way his eyes were screwed on the ground, as if he was turning something big over in his mind.

At the bottom of the ramp, six members of a Zoorian welcome committee awaited with blinding smiles and impeccably fine, pressed clothing. Two men in suits had their hands crossed identically, standing on either side of a woman with uncomfortably perfect dimensions. Three security soldiers with blasters at their sides held wide stances in a row behind them, arms folded behind their backs. Runa rolled his eyes while he had the chance, tired of the constant shows of symmetry and perfection these types of corporate hub planets always felt the need to demonstrate.

The woman held her grin when she rehearsed her greeting speech, glossy hair not even drifting in the breeze, tucked neatly under her cap. “Welcome to Zoor, the epicenter of corporate production within the Ellegian System. Surrounded by 59 other planets, we are the most employed System in the Greater Galaxy. Here, you will be employed to advance the growth of production and GDP of Zoor and its neighbours. How long is your projected stay?”

“One decree.” Gido shoved his hands deeply into his pockets, hiking his shoulders up and rocking back on his heels. He was antsy, fidgeting in a way that was more than impatient. Runa frowned.

“Excellent,” the woman’s face remained the same. “Your visas will be given to you on the other side of customs. The items we take from you will be returned here to your ship, in space G987, which you may access during operational hours on weekends. Please follow these officers to your customs gate, where you will declare your intended profession and be separated accordingly.”

Gido glanced at Runa then, a breeze lifting his bangs from his face and exposing his wide eyes.

Runa returned with a raised brow, confused, but spoke to their hostess, “Thank you,” and turned his attention forward once again to now follow the designated officers.

The line was short, although packed with travellers, it moved quickly and efficiently. Planets like this thrived on it, operations moving like a well-oiled machine, churning out nothing but labor to who took it for their stay. Everything was about growth, excellence, and production. Work, work, work…

“Name and profession?” The Zoorian behind the glass inquired when Runa stepped up.

“Runa Dorn Vero. Pilot, driver.” Runa responded without fuss. 

The attendee nodded and handed him a card through a slot in the window. “Gate three.”

Runa stepped back, flicking the card against his fingers, waiting to see where Gido would be going before he went in without him. It would be easier to find him on the other side if he knew which gate he would be going through. He offered a small, encouraging smile, only to fall when his friend wasn’t even looking at him.

“Name and profession?” The Zoorian droned again.

“Gido Aleqarius Darra. Mechanic.” 

The pilot laughed softly, glancing at the attendee. “Aw, come on, you could do more than that-”

“I said  _ mechanic _ .” Gido looked at him then, something deeply wrong with the expression in his eyes. Runa flinched back, bewildered but not willing to argue.

He didn’t know what about this could be so worrisome, but something in his heart tugged with worry. He would ask about it later, when the day was done and they had a familiar moment of repose, just the two of them. No officers, no cameras, no customs hosts. He tried to convey that with his eyes.

“Gate seven.” The scavenger took his card.

“See you on the other side, Gido,” Runa reached out to pat his shoulder, one last attempt at comfort before sending him off.

“Mhm.”

Runa’s clearance went easily. In the first room through the gate, they checked his credentials, in one of many dark, blue-lighted little booths. Finding nothing out of the ordinary that hadn’t been previously cleared, he was ushered into the changing room to shower and receive his special Zoorian attire; planets like this had uniforms, to best organise information at a glance and keep with the mundane to minimize distractions.

And bless the glories of this place, they had pants in his side. Practically tailored to fit.

Cargo pants, knee-high leather boots. A tight black undershirt tucked in, covered by a thick belt. A button-up jacket with the approved badges for his profession and level sewn on. Visa badge clipped to the inside pocket, and he was sent out once more into the glaring light of the city to meander until Gido joined him once more for their orientation tour.

Runa stood in the shade of an awning near the exit of Gate 7, peering over and through the crowd, scratching and pulling where his shirt covered his stomach, unused to the feeling.

Finally, across the square, Runa recognised a familiar mop of blond hair, and before he could even question why he was exiting a different doorway than he had entered, Gido had spotted him and waved enthusiastically, his other arm carrying his badged jacket. He looked to the two officers flanking him -  _ wait, flanking him? No one had left with Runa  _ \- as if for permission, then jogged over to meet Runa where he stood under the awning.

His uniform was the same cargo material as Runa’s, only of a material that was a much more subtle charcoal grey. It was long-sleeved with a high collar, the front of which Gido had unzipped a little because that couldn’t possibly be comfortable elsewise. His boots were laced, only calf-high, and it was strange to see the actual shapeliness of the scavenger’s legs, even hidden by the baggy material of his pants. 

Runa missed the thigh-highs already, just as much as he missed his own cropped shirts.

Gido bounced on his toes when he skidded to Runa’s side, standing a little too close and tugging at a metal bracelet clasped around his left wrist - white with a red stripe through the middle. Runa furrowed his brow, wondering where that came from and why he didn’t have one of his own. The beads of Gido’s charm bracelet made little tinkling sounds against the band with the motion of his hand.

The look in his eyes was nothing short of skittish, his gaze never sticking on one point for too long and his smile trembling just as much. Runa hadn’t ever seen him this restless, it left a cold feeling in his gut that he wanted desperately to act on, to ask him what was wrong, but there were too many Zoorian officials around to speak of whatever was bothering him this much. So, the pilot just gave him the same confused look as before and wondered again if he should reach out to touch him, to offer him a sort of external comfort.

“Are you all cleared? We were supposed to meet with a group for orientation…” Gido smiled as he spoke, rocking back and forth on his heels, unable to keep still. He pulled at the metal bracelet on his wrist.

“I was told to wait here, but yeah, I’m cleared.” Runa shrugged, deciding that hopefully, normal conversation would get them through the day until they had a moment alone to talk things through. “Are you?”’

Nodding, Gido bobbed his head for a bit longer than he needed to, briefly zoning out before his smile grew a little more relaxed. “I think so, they didn’t say anything after I got out and they gave me my visa, so I’m pretty sure they’re done.” He chuckled quietly, exhaling in a heavy sigh, letting his shoulders fall in a masked attempt to  _ force _ himself to relax. “You know, this is what I imagined the first day of organized school to be like. It sucks! I don’t wanna meet new people!”

That knot coiled so tightly in Runa’s gut loosened just enough to let him breathe out a sigh, smiling fondly at the man before him in contrast with the less pleasant memories of his prep school days. “The first day of school was  _ always _ terrible, but everyone at my school was a rich, entitled asshole, it came with the territory and that didn’t help.”

“ _ Yeesh _ ,” shivering, Gido got out the worst of his nerves with an exaggerated gesture that made Runa laugh softly. “Should have just joined a guild like I did, run away from that whole mess. Although… Eh, well it wasn’t exactly my choice. And, then you wouldn’t have met me! So, I’m not complaining.” He glanced around before hopping in surprise, grabbing Runa’s sleeve. 

“There’s our orientation group…” Runa finished for him, sighing when a loudspeaker whined, squealed, and then the voice of a too-cheerful man preached to them of all the good they would do for ‘the Advancement of Zoor and its Neighbours’.

~

Runa’s shift for the day ended long after it got dark, although the flashing billboard lights wouldn’t allow him to believe anything had even changed. By the time he found the apartment that had been assigned to Gido and himself for the duration of their stay, his eyes were scratchy with weariness. He keyed into the room, a green light flashing as the door unlocked, and a timestamp appearing just above the peephole on the door, reminding him yet again of how late it was.

He closed the door quietly, the lights on within the main area, but no sign of Gido himself. Surely he should be back already, though? Runa gave the modest area a puzzled once-over as he hung up his jacket, leaving his shoes by the door and looking for wherever the scavenger may be. 

_ Maybe he was asleep? That wouldn’t be a stretch at all. _

“Gido?” The main room had a kitchen to the left, but he wasn’t in there, and the window straight ahead had the curtains open still. Breaking off with a narrow hall on either side, Runa looked to the only door that was open, a sliver, some light shining through the gap.

Upon hearing his name, some shuffling came from the room, the door opening before Runa could do it himself. Gido’s hair was ruffled on one side, likely where he’d been sleeping on it ( _ bingo, guessed it _ ). He wore a pair of black sweatpants and his own jacket pulled haphazardly over his shoulders to cover up his shirtless torso. Plenty of little scars, nicks and deeper ones, dotted the skin that Runa could see, as well as the fine dark lines of a couple tattoos. 

Runa was staring. Whoops.

“Different schedules, huh?” Gido rocked back on his heels to lean on the doorframe, running his tongue along the inside of his cheek. He looked exhausted, but not in the adorable, fuzzy way he often was on the ship. He just looked drained. “How was… how was work?”

“It was fine.” Disregarding the genuineness of his response, or the quality, Runa’s dark gaze dragged over Gido’s form, his posture, in a way that could easily be mistaken as taking a pass at him, but the concerned crease that had resided between his brows all day begged otherwise. “Are you okay? Because all day you’ve been bouncing off the walls, not in your usual way, and you’re just… I dunno. Not fun today, not yourself.”

“Oh, yeah! I’m fine, I just… I haven’t been to a place like this in awhile. Things were fast-paced today, wore me out… But we’ll get to do it all again tomorrow, I’ll get used to it.” He spat out the excuse so quickly, so rehearsed, that he even waited a beat to register Runa’s unconvinced expression before tacking on an ending. “Don’t worry, hun.”

Runa frowned, crossing his arms, a headache forming from the tension in his jaw and between his eyebrows. “Gido… Your  _ life _ has been fast-paced. You can barely sit still. I know we’re heading to the entire other side of - of  _ everything _ to get you to the Lesser Galaxy, to get you away from… whatever you’re leaving behind. But you wouldn’t be worn out because you’re ‘not used to it’.” He stepped closer, crowding the scavenger against the side of the doorframe, briefly catching a whiff of the generic citrusy soap that must be available in the bathroom. “Tell me what’s wrong, and I don’t want another shit excuse.”

Gido shuffled his feet, arms folded behind him to keep his lower back off the wall, and he looked down at a point on the floor somewhere behind Runa’s feet. Runa huffed, a sharp exhale through the nose to show that he was  _ waiting _ , rather impatiently; he just hurt from all this. They were having such a good time, and in a day full of nothing but bad vibes, that was in danger of being turned around. His friend was keeping something from him, something that had bled to make both of them uncomfortable, to become somewhat of a burden to both.

Then Gido spoke, a half-hearted shrug before he held up his wrist, the left one that jingled with the sound of his charm bracelet colliding with the metal band locked there. He turned his stare back to meet Runa’s face, different eyes containing the same sentiment of shame. “They went through my record in front of me, read it out loud. And I guess I’m just… not super proud of some of the stuff in my past.” He shoved himself off the wall in one smooth motion, kicking off on his feet to walk past Runa and turning to face him from the mouth of the main room. “And now this thing is locked on me til the day we leave, reminding me of it more than I do myself. It’s just not been a nice day for your boy.”

Runa got that. He really did. Bad days were bad days, there was no getting around it; they were natural and okay to have, and sometimes people just needed a day to sulk. He got that. And so, he nodded, even though there was an itching part of him that didn’t  _ quite _ take it as the whole truth.

Gido’s expression was pleading, uncomfortable and closed off. He was internally screaming for this conversation to be over. And Runa wanted to push him, oh he did, he wanted to  _ help _ … But he also didn’t want to hurt.

He uncrossed his arms and sighed. “Alright. I’m not going to push you, but… you can trust me, if you want to share.”

“I don’t.”

Blue and grey eyes left again, fixing on the floor amidst the awkward atmosphere the bluntness of Gido’s words had brought. He crossed his arm and stood still, for once just taking the cringe head-on. It didn’t last long, when the scavenger shook his blond head and cleared his throat.

“Have you, uh… have you eaten, yet? I haven’t, I was waiting for you so we could order up from downstairs…” Gido rasped, then cleared his throat again. His deep voice sounded gravelly when he was strained like that. Runa thought it sounded more like broken glass with that tone, he  _ hated _ whatever just happened, whatever exchange just occurred.

He was grateful for the shift in conversation, but no less suspicious. “I haven’t. I’m going to shower and change, do you want to pick and get that order on?”

“Yeah, I’ve got you.” Smiling hesitantly, Gido went and settled himself onto the couch, pressing a few dials on the center coffee table. “Hey, did you ever figure out what you were allergic to? From the cleanse diet? What’s off-limits?”

“Dairy from specific systems, the way they pasteurize is… different, for some reason.” Runa shrugged, trying to recall the list of processing plants for what he couldn’t have. “No one ever posts where they source it, so maybe just avoid stuff like that. The diner milkshakes are always fine, I regular with them. But I don’t know about here.”

“Sounds good, hun. I’ll see what they’ve got, you go get cleaned up.”

~

Runa showered quickly, and yet when he returned, Gido was asleep, facedown on the couch. One hand drooped to the floor, one leg splayed over the backrest. Runa sighed, scratching at the fabric of the (very) soft sweater that settled over his stomach, before kicking Gido’s legs down and flopping unceremoniously on his end of the sofa.

Gido jolted awake, almost rolling off the edge before he scrabbled to catch himself, nails digging into the cushion like a desperate feline. He looked around, alarmed, before his eyes landed on Runa and  _ narrowed _ .

But then he giggled, swinging his feet and sitting up, legs crossed underneath him. “Don’t scare me like that! I was a bounty hunter, you know, you shouldn’t test my reflexes.”

“You sleep like a fucking rock, Gido. I had to literally  _ kick _ you just now.”

“I was in a compromised position!”

“Yeah, sleeping.”

“Shut up!” Gido laughed, and it was  _ so  _ good to see him feeling better, all residual negativity from their argument - or whatever it was - vanishing if at least for the evening. “Something’s being brought up, I just kinda got sandwiches and dessert at random, so I hope it’s good?”

Runa smiled in return, a warmth finding its way to his gestures. “Sounds good to me. While we wait, do you want to hear how my day was?”

Gido sat forward, eyes shining and mouth agape in a pleasantly surprised expression. “Storytime with Runa? Yes please, tell me everything! Entertain me.”

“Well,” Runa groaned quietly as he crossed one leg, leaning closer to Gido to indulge him in the tales of the day, “I met a lovely woman, who I drove to not one, not two, but  _ three _ separate brothels as she searched for the woman she met last night, of which she had pointedly decided and  _ vividly _ explained that she was wildly in love with. She tipped well. So, that was one thing.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Gido put his hands on his cheeks, and Runa just now realised that in another rare moment, were gloveless. Runa tried to catch a glimpse of the tiny tattoos on his fingers, the ones he had seen a couple times before but never stared at. But Gido talked with his hands, waving them as he gushed. “Best of luck to them, then! That’s so cute… All I got was thrown on a team of idiots to fix the main subway line cars. Apparently, teams are ‘more efficient’, so I wasn’t allowed to handle anything on my own. You would not  _ believe _ how inexperienced these four were, and they didn’t take advice or criticism so there was no value there either… I wanna die just thinking about it.  _ Ugh _ .”

“I feel that, group projects are the  _ worst _ .” Runa patted his shoulder sympathetically, leaving his hand to rest there when he was done. He always thought his hands were big but,  _ huh _ , Gido’s shoulders were firm. Nice. “Is this your permanent team? Or is it day-by-day?”

He forgot to move his hand. 

Gido forgot to move in general, or ignored it altogether. “If I can show them that I’m better than that, they’ll move me up to primary maintenance or something on upper levels. I just have to break out, they need to give me a chance…” He pouted and rubbed a hand over his face, propping his chin in his hand and leaning forward towards Runa, into his touch.

Runa pulled his hand back, a hot flush burning up his neck. That was awkward. “You’ll get it soon, I’m sure.”

“Thanks hun.” Instead, Gido held his own hand out. The left one, the one with the tiny planets tattooed on the insides of his fingers. There were a couple stars too, and one crescent moon. Runa stared at his hand, feigning confusion in favour of admiration. “Here’s to having a better day tomorrow?”

“I feel like this is a toast. We should have gotten drinks.” Runa grabbed his hand, clasping it in his own flatly, not daring to intertwine their fingers. He smiled up at Gido, prompting a response that he readily received. It was good, seeing him smile like that too.

He never realised how much he would miss it when it fell, but Runa vowed silently to not take that smile for granted. And maybe try to a little more, himself.

Gido shook their hands once, a simple bob, a chuckle on his lips. “Yeah, I didn’t think that far ahead. Next time. But, this is good for now, yeah?”

Runa waited for him to pull away.

“It is, yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed - I respond to each and every one!!
> 
> This story is the reason I didn't sleep tonight, oof :D
> 
> To support these bois, get exclusive details, and support my writing in general, follow me on social media!! Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main), @juggled-muse (writing), or on Twitter @thirthfloor!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharing a pleasant end to a bland day, Runa considers how he feels.

The days passed slowly, much too slowly. Runa felt his energy draining with every moment that passed.

Work wasn’t hard. It went well, the pay was good and clients were either polite or not worth his time. But that was exactly the  _ problem _ . With each day that passed, Runa ran out of stories to tell Gido when he got home; the silence that he would have filled were now covered by the scavenger’s own ramblings, whether about what he did that day, or past stories embellished for their own entertainment.

Runa felt bland, like the life had been sucked out of him. He was a dry sponge in a desert that only got hotter with each passing day, and it sucked ass.

Safety was one thing, but for once, the itch in his skin forced him to truly understand why Gido did what he did. Why he thrived on chaos, why he hopped between planets, galaxies, systems, sniffing out trouble just for the hell of it. 

All of this, Runa wouldn’t dare to admit. But he wanted more than the Queyfan Circuit now. The plans he had subtly been forming, the idea he wanted to pitch that maybe -  _ maybe _ \- he could settle down with Gido for however long his “hiatus” was going to be? Out of the question. Runa couldn’t handle this. He needed  _ out _ .

He couldn’t last another half of a decree. He was going to shrivel up and turn into stir crazy dust.

He blinked in surprise when he opened the door to hear music coming from their apartment, interest straightening the slump of his shoulders.

“Uh… Gido?” Runa stepped into the rectangle of light coming from the kitchen doorway. The rest of the apartment was dark, the flashing lights of the city casting a pink and blue glow through the window that reminded Runa a little of a diner trip from not too long ago, and yet now it seemed revolutions away.

Gido was in the kitchen, sliding on the tile in his socks. He grinned widely when Runa called his name, finishing a cute twirl with a gasp, and immediately slipping over to take his jacket. “Runa! How was your day?”

“Oh, it was fine…?” Runa didn’t have time to figure out what to do with his arms, as Gido had already taken his jacket to the coat rack and skidded back to his side. “You seem to be in a really good mood.”

“Of course I am, hun! Because guess who just got promoted to assembly frontman for the outgoing shipment vessels?” Unable to maintain the surprise, Gido grinned hopelessly and took Runa’s hands in his own, pulling him into the kitchen. He let go with one hand and lifted Runa’s arm, spinning under it quickly enough that Runa’s wrist hurt and Gido’s feet almost slipped out from under him.

But by now, the good news coupled with the absolutely adorable energy radiating off the man in front of him had brought a genuine smile to the tired pilot’s face. Runa chuckled quietly, reaching his free hand back to tug the elastic out of his hair so it could fall about his face, relieving the ache in his scalp. “That’s amazing, congratulations!”

“It took them long enough, right?” Gido giggled and took his hands again, this time slipping one hand further to rest on the small of his back, arm tucked nicely around his waist. He had to tilt his head back to see Runa at this angle, but he didn’t stop smiling. “I bought cake to celebrate, but just for a moment, relax with me, yeah? We’ve worked hard, and I can just see how this is killing you…”

Runa let out a breathless chuckle, heat flushing so quickly to his cheeks that his mouth dried. “That obvious?” He waited a beat, listening to the music track change to something soft. “What’re you doing right now?”

Gido began to shift them back and forth, a gentle sway. Even with small steps, Runa was afraid of stepping on his toes while he still wore his boots. “Dancing, isn’t it obvious? And you’re the lucky lady… Runa, hun, you’ll hurt your neck with the way your shoulders have been bunched up like that for the past few days, relax…”

“ _ You’ll _ hurt your neck with the way you’re craning it like that.” 

“Well, maybe you should just - be shorter.”

“Get taller.”

“Shut up, I got promoted. Congratulate me.”

Runa rolled his eyes, an easy smile coming so naturally to his face. “ _ Congratulations _ . But seriously, I’ve never danced to relax, it was always a formal affair… So, sorry if I’m stiff.”

“That’s alright, if not a shame… I’ve  _ always _ danced to relax.”

_ Clearly, beautiful bastard. _

Gido continued, closing his eyes briefly as they drifted side to side, rocking gently at a pace just a little behind the beat of the music. “That’s what it’s for. You let yourself go… Enjoy the beauty of a simple act of living for a  _ real _ moment.”

_ Oh, yeah. Runa was enjoying it. _

“And the best part is,” Gido looked up at him, and they were so close,  _ so _ close, “when you dance with someone you trust, you can do much more than that. You can be yourself…”

_ Uh-huh. _

_ Uh oh. _

“I think you just gave my cotillion instructor a stroke.” Runa laughed quietly, dropping his shoulders, relaxing. But his heart thudded heavily, pieces slowly coming together in his mind, forming a conclusion that mattered much more than whatever witty response he could form.

“Bully for them, then. I’m self taught and proud. Spin?” Stepping back, Gido rose onto his tiptoes and lifted their hands high in the air, an expectant glint in his eyes.

Runa was happy to oblige, amused at the fact that he still had to duck under his arm. Even more so, when Gido bounced on his heels giddily before taking careful hold of his waist again to resume their absent attempt at a waltz.

“You know, this is really nice. I feel like we were always friends, but more of a theoretical, fated duo than a real one. Like you defaulted to be my best friend simply since you were the guy I knew best, but that doesn’t mean we  _ knew _ each other.” He paused a moment, staring at Runa’s shoulder as if contemplating something, before picking off a stray lint. “The fact that we’ve spent almost two decrees with each other without parting once has been something really special, in my eyes.”

_ Something special _ .

_ Yeah. _

“It’s nice to have a real friend.” Runa mumbled it, sure that the sound of his heartbeat would drown it out.

Gido poked his chest, right over the beating muscle, and raised his brows triumphantly. “ _ Aha _ ! That’s the first time you’ve for real said it! We’re friends!”

“Uh-huh.” 

Runa loved how that made him so happy.

_ Loved. _

Gido twirled himself in Runa’s arms, letting his hands graze over his sides as he moved, before drawing himself close once more. “I’ve said this before, but… you have a really nice smile. It’s rare, but a good one.”

The pilot felt like he was flying. “Y-you’re a good dancer.”

“I have fun with it.”

Gido bowed neatly when the song ended, switching to something new that neither was in the headspace to care much for. Runa mirrored the gesture, skin on fire.

“Thank you for the dance! But now, food. You look exhausted.” Gido ran a hand through his hair, mussy blond disheveled from their dance, but precious and domestic. He turned to the counter space behind them and began to get out plates and utensils.

“You said you got cake?” Runa snuck up behind him, turning to the side last minute to escape the teasing glance Gido shot over his opposite shoulder before finding him on the other side. 

“I did! But no cake before dinner, you should know better, Runa my dear.” He handed him a plate of food, something that Runa didn’t look down at because his eyes crossed when Gido’s finger pressed against his nose in a gentle  _ boop _ . “Meet you at the table.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Darra.”

“You listen, though.” Gido’s laughter drifted into the main room, where he sat at the table and waited for Runa to join him. 

And, of course, Runa followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Leave a comment if you liked it - I respond to each and every one!!
> 
> To support this original work, and my writing in general, follow me on social media!! Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main), @juggled-muse (writing), or on Twitter @thirthfloor!!
> 
> I take questions and concerns about this work there!! And there may or may not be some art coming...?? O,O


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Runa gets home. Things are not normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this chapter was MUCH longer, and totally killing me. I split it up since it's been a hot minute since I posted, which means hopefully the rest will follow soon in chapter 9!

Following the routine they had set was easy. Runa got back to the tiny apartment they called home at the end of the day, usually a few hours after Gido had returned. He hung up his jacket on the hook by the door and wandered into Gido’s room to ask what he wanted to order for dinner, or if the scavenger had planned to cook anything that night. 

Runa was terrible in the kitchen, that fact had been established too many times despite his best efforts. On the other hand, Gido was shockingly decent for someone who never really had a stable settlement. Apparently it was something he’d learned back in the early days of his guild, when he was just taken in; He knew the theory of cooking well enough to execute it in the wild and in a kitchen, and while not necessary here on Zoor, it was a nice show.

All this, Runa contemplated as he entered the apartment, busying his thoughts just long enough to delay a reaction to the way the door to Gido’s room was thrown open, his boots and legs stuck out from the bedframe, and a haphazardly packed duffle in place of the pillow atop the mattress.

Gido lay on his side, fidgeting with something near the wall under the bed, likely close to the vent. 

_ But what?  _ Dread flooded Runa’s lungs, weighted his stomach, and throbbed terribly in his ears. It hit him like a blast to the chest, something he was completely and  _ totally _ unprepared for.

“Going somewhere?” He just barely managed to choke out in an alarmingly calm voice.

Shouting in surprise, Gido lurched up and knocked his head on the underside of the bed, wrenching something free from the wall, a string of curses slipping out that was more akin to something Runa would say. There was a moment that he just stayed there, sheltered under the roof of the bed frame above him, before he finally rolled into his back and pushed himself out.

He stayed seated on the ground, and there was no denying the unfiltered, unhidden panic on his face. Runa’s palms started sweating, so he put his hands in his pockets, staring at him. 

Gido let out a shaky laugh, a flat and dying sound with no mirth in it, and his complexion washed out. “I thought you were going to be home much later, you’re usually back later, Runa…” His voice trembled, and he realised this with a slow horror, rising to his feet quickly to put the last of what was in his hands into the go-bag, tugging forcefully on the zipper.

Runa didn’t take his eyes off his friend, a deep fear rooting in his mind that he would bolt the second he was out of sight. He took a couple steps closer, putting his hands up and speaking slowly as if to steady a skittish, cornered animal. “I got off a little early, there weren’t any clients looking for the right distance trip… Where are you planning on going, Gido? What happened?”

“I’m really sorry for all this, hun, I really am but for your sake I’m not gonna tell you where I’m going.” Swinging the bag over his shoulder, Gido straightened up quickly and spun on his heel, almost knocking directly into Runa. He tilted his head back, messy blond hair falling back from his face, eyes not resting in one position for too long, as much as he tried to force eye contact. Runa didn’t like whatever he was doing to himself. “I am leaving though, and I’m sorry. None of this has anything to do with you, you can pretend you didn’t see me today if they ask.”

“Who’s  _ they _ ?” Runa’s mouth was dry, his skin felt hot, but not in the pleasant, confusing way when Gido would stand too close and he could count the stars in his eyes. Right now, Runa was freezing from the inside out. “Gido, what’s going on?”

Gido raised his hand, a thin metal card pinched between two fingers. “I’m sorry about this, too. But I’ve transferred all the credits I’ve earned plus some to your profile, you can get yourself a new one.”

“You’re  _ not _ taking my fucking ship!” Runa’s voice cracked, desperation bleeding through, and he was just  _ so _ lost. 

Gido suddenly grabbed Runa’s shoulders, shaking him into focus with every sentence he barked out, his own expression shattering to reveal stress, and fear, and all these ugly emotions that fueled nightmares. “Runa, I have to  _ go _ !!” Everything was happening so fast. “There are some bad, really,  _ really _ bad people here and this planet knows where we are! We are  _ always _ monitored, here!” This couldn’t be happening, not now. “They’re going to find me soon if I don’t leave, I don’t want that to happen and I  _ can’t  _ have them get to you, too!”

Runa grabbed him right back, holding him still. “Why are they after you? You were cleared when you got here, right?  _ Right _ !?”

“Yes, yes I was!” And Gido  _ sobbed _ , taking his hands back to clasp them together as if in prayer. 

He wasn’t making excuses, he was trembling like he was being electrocuted, eyes glassy but his face remaining frozen with fear. 

“This time, for once in my godsforsaken life, I’m  _ not _ the one who did something wrong! These guys are bad Runa, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry and if I could do anything to stop this, I would, but  _ please _ trust me on this one! One parting gift, the last thing I’ll ever ask from you, forever, is that you just let me go!”

“No, no, no,” Runa shook too, the words making him sick to his stomach, that tone of voice scaring him  _ so _ much. “Not the last thing, I’ll come with y-”

_ Boom, boom, boom. _

Three knocks at the door.

Gido let out a soft whimper. “Oh,  _ gods _ …”

Runa looked back towards the door, tightening his grip on Gido’s arm.

“Runa. Answer the door. They know I checked in. Tell them I went out and haven’t come back yet. Please. Please.  _ Please _ , I’ll never ask you for anything ever again…” Gido reached up, grabbed his face, and turned it to meet his eyes. “Runa. Please.”

He was going to  _ cry _ . Even beneath the pilot’s steady hand, Gido was shaking like he was going to shatter. Runa swallowed, then nodded. “Okay.”

He pulled away, pulling himself from Gido’s arms and closed the door to the bedroom quietly behind him. He turned to face the front door and pulled it open.

“Can I help you?” Once again, his voice came out shockingly steady.

A woman stood there, clothed in the uniform of the lovely hostesses and tour guides of Zoor. She looked strikingly similar to the one that had led their orientation, hair pulled back neatly and the edges of her dress crisp and stiff. She was smiling, and flanked by two security personnel.

They weren’t the security from their building.

“Hello, Mr. Vero.” She chirped, welcoming and positive despite the artificial sense to it all. “Your flatmate, Mr. Darra, checked into your room recently. Is he available to be spoken to?”

Runa shifted, crossing his arms and standing straighter, blocking as much of the doorway as he could without appearing obvious. One of the officers tilted his head back slightly, meeting Runa’s faux-perplexed gaze. “No, sorry, he um… he’s out picking up dinner for us, you just missed him.”

Her smile tightened, uncomfortable creases forming at the corners of her eyes with what Runa deduced was frustration. Her tone remained pleasant, bright as ever, though. “Oh, okay! Will you notify an attendant when he returns? He just needs to answer a couple procedural questions considering his recent promotion.”

_ Bullshit _ . “Yeah, of course!” Runa mirrored her enthusiasm, relaxing his brow and smiling as much as he could despite the rotting dread twisting in his gut. “Is everything okay?”  _ What was going on? _

“Yes. We just have a few questions for him. Please notify us when he returns.” Turning on her heel, the woman walked away, heels clicking quietly but resolutely with each step. The soldiers followed, their gait heavier but with the same condemning pace and pattern, like a ticking clock counting down.

Runa nodded, smiling slightly and offering a wave in farewell. “Will do!”

And of course, once the party had turned the corner at the end of the hall, his facade dropped to an expression of harsh distaste, growling another sentiment. “Will  _ not _ , rat bastards.”

He turned inside and refrained from slamming the door, heart immediately pounding as he began to search for Gido.

_ Fuck, fuck, fuck.  _ There was no sign of him within the main area, thank gods or the officers would have seen him. A haunting, dead emptiness riddled the living space, any comfort now soiled by the knowledge of what dangers may come if they lingered. Runa scowled at the room, turning his back on it to step into Gido’s bedroom.

The window was closed, but there was  _ still  _ no sign of him. Not even a stray sock lay in the room.

And Runa wondered if that cold hollowness in his body would ever lift, eyes darting about the space for anything out of place, any clue as to where he was hiding. His breathing quickened, shallow inhales that could only spell disaster.

_ Oh, Runa hated this. Whatever this was? This fear. _

“Gido?”

“Here.” The response came instantly, muffled, and from above. Runa looked up to find the source of the sound. The scraping of one of the ceiling panels snapped him out of his panic, a black square giving way to Gido’s unflattering work boots. The rest of the scavenger followed slowly, carefully lowering himself with a strain in his muscles. Even hanging all the way, there was about a foot between himself and the floor, and Runa questioned what spike of adrenaline even got him up there in the first place.

He was terrified. They both were, now.

The instant he met the floor, Gido rushed forward and tugged Runa to his chest in a crushing hug. His arms were strong, wrapped around his torso and holding him close, the entirety of their bodies pressed flush together. Without a word on his end, Runa gasped at the motion before feeling how the other man slackened as he returned the embrace.

And Gido felt fragile. Small. Clingy.

He felt scared.

Like he would break if Runa let go.

And this was the first time they’d ever properly hugged.

Runa brought a hand to his hair, threading his fingers into the curls, tucking Gido’s head safely into the crook of his neck. Runa held him like he’d hold glass or gold.

The grip on the back of the pilot’s jacket tightened ever so slightly. Runa responded to the touch by leaning in, lips barely brushing against the shell of the scavenger’s ear. “Give me three minutes to pack a bag. Then,  _ we’re _ going. And you’re going to tell me  _ exactly _ who we’re running from, and why they’re after you. No bullshit, no excuses.”

Gido nodded against his shoulder. “Okay. Y-yeah, okay.”

They separated, and in other circumstances, Runa would have held him for hours.  _ Hell _ , he would do that now if only there wasn’t some unknown, impending doom hanging over their heads. But that would have to wait, until they were safe.

He could hold him again, when they were safe. There would be time. 

Runa pulled away.

Gido scrubbed his hands over his eyes, red-rimmed but still dry. He stared down at his palms, watching the lines of his fingers tremble so much that they blurred in his vision, before thrusting out one hand with the pinky extended from a closed fist. “Make me pinky promise. That way, I know I’ll follow through. I’ll have to tell you anything.”

Runa’s heart clenched, a painful, brutal thing at such a sweet sentiment. He stared, for what was likely seconds but felt like hours, and locked their pinkies. “Three minutes. Don’t leave me behind.”

“I won’t.” And Gido watched as he walked away, before following closely after, a lost expression tainting his face.

Runa threw what he had at hand into a bag, muttering and rummaging through the drawers and shelves in his reach to make sure nothing of utmost importance was being left behind. In one of the closets, he took a spare of his piloting jackets, turning around to make his way back to the main room and instead jumping when he saw Gido standing, ready in the doorway. 

Runa opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes were drawn to the way that Gido’s fingers toyed anxiously with a loose thread on his gloves. The pilot took a moment to gather his thoughts, stepping closer at a cautious pace before holding out the jacket to him. “Wear this. The different identification should slow them down for a little.”

“Okay.” Gido’s voice was small, not taking effort to formulate better responses. He just did as he was told, operating on a level of adrenaline and resting in a strangely calm state despite the tremors seizing his entire body. He tugged on the jacket, the sleeves covering all but the tips of his fingers, and he held onto the lapels. 

He looked up, wide-eyed. “If we go through the closed site at the subway station, we can go down the maintenance hallways and come out on the opposite side of the entryway, to get to the ship. It’s… tough to explain, without a map, but I know where to go.”

“It’ll be okay. I’ll follow your lead.” Scooping up his bag in one arm, Runa put a hand on Gido’s shoulder, a gentle pat before moving past him to stand by the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed it - I respond to each and every one!! Any bit helps!!!
> 
> To support this work and many others, follow me on social media! Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main), @juggled-muse (writing), or on Twitter @thirthfloor!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys keep running, finally making their escape from Zoor.

Gido led them outside, through crowded streets to side streets, alleys, anything that lacked suspicion but remained out of the view of most monitors. They crossed the city, zigzagging in a pattern that took almost thrice as long as it should, before finally arriving at the location where Gido was first employed. The construction had since been completed, and the few workers that may remain had completed their daily shifts.

Gido led Runa through the gate and down the stairs, into the station that had a haunting echo to meet their footsteps, as well as a cavernous maw to meet the ends of the tracks. It was eerily quiet, all noise from the street above muted by the simple change in surface level.

Their footsteps rang softly off the arching stone walls, Gido’s deep voice chiming into the mix even as he spoke lowly. “They have security bots around this area, but they’re a little slow to pick up on things sometimes. If you see one, punch it in the lens as hard as you can…” He looked over his shoulder at Runa, focused even as he appeared jumpy. “But no one should be here, it’s closed down from the main train some kilometer, the maintenance is finished but it’s settling.”

He hopped down onto the tracks, skillfully missing the metal bars that ran parallel into the gaping mouth of the tunnel and all the shadow that waited there. Which was all too likely where they were headed.

Gido held his hand up without a word to help Runa down. And his whole arm was shaking. Runa let out a quiet, pained sound at the sight, before taking the offer and joining the scavenger on the tracks.

And he didn’t let go.

They walked into the darkness, quiet and cold. The air around them was damp, sticky in an uncomfortable, underground nature, but the floor felt clean. There was no water, there were no animals, just the two of them, breaths light and their hands clasped tightly between them.

Trekking around a bend, their footsteps fell silent as a faint beeping could be heard at the end of the tunnel. A red light flashed and waned methodically against the wall, coming from a circle that came closer with each strobe. Gido held a hand in front of Runa to keep him from moving forward, slowly slipping his bag from his shoulder.

Runa kept silent, watching as the bot drew nearer but didn’t identify them yet, its sweeping gaze still wandering across the walls as it hovered closer.

Gido threw his bag.

It hit the bot on the roof of its metal head, the red light of its eye swaying and casting grotesque patterns of shadow onto the wall. Rocking back and forth, the camera lens tightened when it focused on the pair, the last thing its robot programming would ever register. Because the next thing that came flying at it was Gido’s fist, gloved and succinct in a punch that shattered the glass and broke the camera beneath.

The red light died, casting them back into a stifling darkness.

“Are we good? Did it see us?”

“Not long enough to process anything.” Gido shook his fist, little flecks of glass sprinkling onto the floor. “Let’s keep going, quickly though. There will be a side door soon, lit by a blue light. We can duck in there and it should take us out towards the edge of the landing lots… We’ll be able to climb up a ladder near the far drains. It won’t be near our lot but if we’re quick, we’ll be able to get there.”

And Gido stepped close to Runa, in his range of sight even in this underground. His eyes darted over Runa’s face, tracing his features, hesitant in all their _beauty_.

There was a question within them, whether Runa wished to stay or go. He could turn back here, if he didn’t want to follow. He could be _totally_ safe.

Reaching forward, Runa grasped his hand, squeezing gently. “I’ll follow your lead.”

He’d said it twice in the past few hours, but he’d be damned if it wasn’t one of the truest things he’d ever spoken.

Gido nodded gratefully, before leading him further into the subway.

After another few kilometers of walking - Runa lost track of distance and time down here, it was like a vacuum of both time and space - a side door was faintly illuminated by a blue safety light, nothing but a small railing beside a single step to signify its structural presence. Gido trotted over, Runa trailing behind him, linked by their hands.

The door was unlocked from the outside. “For safety,” Gido clarified at Runa’s deeply relieved sigh, even as anxiety spiked through his pulse once more at the thought of entering a place where other people might be, and they definitely shouldn’t.

The inside hall was barren, the palest and dimmest lighting imaginable causing a headache to form between Runa’s eyes. He almost preferred the softness of the black tunnel, at least then his vision wasn’t trying to _adjust_ to anything. He reached out, fumbling for something else to touch, and his hand met the freezing cold stone of the wall.

“How much farther? Where… where are we?” Keeping his voice down, Runa leaned against the wall and squinted, praying that sound didn’t carry here.

Gido ran a hand through his hair, looking around as if there would be a sign, pacing in the center of the hall. His usual fidgety movements were the only thing keeping him visible, the tan of the pilot’s jacket and the ruffled blond of his hair almost blending him into the wall in the grainy light. He mumbled something to himself before pointing the length of the corridor. “We’re under the main customs building right now, the one where they begin the orientation tours. This hall’s real exit leads up to one of the plazas, sometimes the guides will take the subways from the lots that are further away. Which means we’re…” He sighed, heavily. “In a maintenance tunnel. Near a station. Not near our ship. But we _are_ near an exit.”

“We are _not_ going to just pop up in the plaza between the customs buildings. Gido, that’s idiotic.”

“No, we’re not. Because we’re not going out the main exit, there’s… another one. Come on.” 

Gido held his hand out again. And Runa took it, again, hardly reassured but ready all the same.

And they kept walking. Runa tried to stay alert, tried to keep his eyes moving for any sign of danger, but eventually his mind began to wander, drifting up and up, carried by his stress like a balloon full of helium. He just - couldn’t focus.

So, it felt like seconds before Gido was pushing against another door, tiny, metal, and rusty. It squealed terribly as he pushed it inwards, and the pair cringed with every second it cried.

The door hadn’t even stilled entirely before the noise was blanketed by the bubbling, rushing of water. Or something… 

“Why does us running always end up near a disgusting river?” Groaning, Runa held his breath and scrunched his nose at the smell.

The cavern around them was dark, but a pale light came from a cylindrical exit on the far wall, surrounding a ladder bolted there, and stretching up into the arched ceiling. But between the platform they stood was slippery stone, and the rushing river of waste. Runa gagged, a sweat breaking out around his neckline, his heart pounding with more than adrenaline and fear.

Gido sighed, almost disappointed, and stepped into the cavern itself to examine the platform. He kicked his boots around the floor, searching for something they may knock into in the dark without having to feel with his hands. “Don’t puke, Runa, hun. I’m going to find us a bridge.”

Runa staggered forward, clasping a hand over his mouth and nose and taking deep breaths. “Fine. Fine. Just get us out of here.”

Silence followed, broken only by the sound of Gido’s boots tapping and squeaking on the wet stone, and the rushing of the filthy channel.

Then Gido stopped, waited a beat, and turned around. “There’s no bridge. I’m gonna jump the gap.”

Runa was going to be sick, for real. “You - you’re kidding, right?”

“It’s not far, five feet maybe? I can get a running start and grab the ladder.” Gido paced to the far end of the platform, adjusting his gloves as he spoke and fixating his gaze on the ladder.

“That is _not_ five feet, and if you fall in and splash me with shit, I’m going to kill you.” Runa gulped.

“We’ll have bigger problems if I fall in, this current goes out a drain over the side of everything.”

“You couldn’t have said that after we - _holy shit what are you doing?_ ” Runa let out a strangled yell when Gido suddenly sped past him, taking a running leap over the gap and banging into the ladder on the opposite side. He slipped a little, and Runa braced himself to jump into the river after him.

But Gido held on by his arms, shaking his head and groaning quietly, as he had likely smacked his face on the rungs or the wall. But he made it, and pulled himself up with a heavy exhale until his feet were on the bottom rung. 

He hung there and waited another moment before turning to face Runa with a thumbs-up. “It’s a little slippery, but it wasn’t that hard… I’ll climb further up so you can go for it, too.”

Runa whined to himself, “I don’t wanna jump. Get out of my way. I’m going to fall anyways. Oh, _gods_ …” But he backed up as far as he could.

That ladder was _really_ far away. But Gido had done it. And Gido was smaller than he was. Well, he was stronger, but shorter, so… _Wait, what if he couldn’t pull himself up?_ Oh, fuck.

“Don’t overthink it, hun. I’ll grab you if you fall.”

“Move.” Runa watched Gido’s feet lift up to a different rung, and then he bolted forward, jumping across the river. Momentarily, wind rushed around him - and it stank _putridly_ , but he was in the air. His foot found the bottom rung, and his hands gripped the sides of the ladder in a vice that not even the sleekest surface could budge.

Steadying himself with a few deep breaths, Runa felt Gido’s hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see the scavenger crouched on one rung, holding another beside his head, in order to reach him. There was a soft smile on his face, as encouraging as he could be when his relief was so apparent. “Good, good job, hun.”

“Uh-huh…” Runa was breathless, staring up at him as the faint light of the exit haloed around his head.

“Let’s keep going.”

“Yeah.”

They crawled up, climbing the ladder tensely as it clanked and clattered beneath them, until Gido stopped moving and Runa kept his eyes down to avoid staring directly at his ass. There was the sound of a new metal, a whispering scrape as Gido prodded at the manhole covering before pushing it off entirely. He didn’t leave right away.

“Hey, Runa?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re gonna have to run, but… thank you for coming with me.” And Gido grabbed the lip of the exit, hauling himself up and out into the grey twilight glow of the surface.

Scrambling up the rest of the ladder, Runa groaned at the wave of adrenaline that surged through his veins, reminding him of how exhausted he would be once they reached safety. “What? Hey, don’t leave me!”

Gido walked in two lopsided circles, orienting himself before picking a direction and jogging off. “It won’t be long before something notices us out here, no one’s supposed to go to their ship without escort, especially at this time of night. We have to be quick.” 

He threw a hand behind him, instinctively reaching for his pilot. Funnily enough, Runa had automatically reached forward for him, too.

 _Huh_.

“What’s the spot number?” Runa gripped Gido’s hand tightly, marvelling at the pressure of his fingers and the scratch of his glove against Runa’s sweating palm.

“G987. We’re in lot H right now, but luckily we’re close to the spot and only have to run about 50. Otherwise, we’d have 1000 to go. That could have gone one of two ways on my part, sorry.” Gido shut up for a moment, panting to catch his breath. He always did seem to have a horrible habit of talking while running, but that was in part due to the fact that it was usually Gido explaining _why_ they were running in the first place.

“Don’t be sorry, we’re out and going now.” Runa tossed a glance over his shoulder, barking out a few expletives before picking up the pace. “Security bot, camera’s on us. We have to go.”

“Going!” 

They would be following soon, but this wasn’t the first time that people had ditched on their visas from Zoor. It was unlikely that they would be pursued outside the atmosphere - but they had to _get_ to their ship first.

“It’s just fucking _staring_ at us, they’re going to lock down the ship. We’re screwed, Gido.”

“No, no, no. That baby’s only for parking, it’ll take it awhile to report back to the actual people behind the screens looking for us. It’s funny, authorities are usually quick to jump the gun when people are loitering and turn a blind eye to the real rulebreakers! Although, we’re in a tricky triad situation with that, but the point is - point is, it doesn’t matter, we’ll be fine! Just - just fine.”

Gido gasped for breath and coughed, exhausted, but if the pilot knew anything, it was that a scavenger could _run_. 

“We can make it,” he just managed to continue, “but be careful taking off…”

“I can get us in the air in thirty seconds.” The stitch in Runa’s side grew. “Once they notice us, it’ll be complicated. Hyperspace can solve that.”

“Good. Good. We’re going to be okay.”

It sounded like he was mostly saying that to himself.

The ship was so close. Five spaces. Three spaces. One space.

She came to life when they stepped into the space, heat engines warming up with their lovely, welcoming orange glow. Runa waved his arms a little so the censors would pick his presence up quicker, and Gido jumped back and forth on his heels as the ramp took its sweet time lowering. Soft sirens wailed in the distance, red lighting coming from the G and H lot centers.

“Go, go, go, go!” Gido pushed Runa inside first, ripping the bag from his shoulders and ducking into the opposite end of the corridor while the pilot beelined for the cockpit. 

Runa fell onto the control panel, landing hard on his knees while slapping deftly at the starting buttons. He was halfway through preflight by the time he actually sat up in the chair, a steady stream of harsh curses spilling from his mouth with each switch he flicked and icon he pushed. The ship jolted forward, not entirely ready to lift off when he slammed the lever forward.

“The bots are here, Runa baby, tell me we’ve got air!” Gido called from far behind him, still in the hall to watch the side windows and stay clear out of Runa’s way.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m trying, I’m trying, _fucking go!_ ” Sweat beaded down from his hairline, black hair wiry and oily at the roots from the absolute amount of stress and _exercise_ he was getting today. Goddamn. 

But Runa was fast. He got the ship up, over the hulking buses parked on either side of it, and sent her over the edge.

Instead of going up, he shot straight down. Gido shouted, jarred and shocked in the hallway as the angle slammed him against the wall.

The security pods dove over the edge and curved upwards, intending to follow him into the sky. This planet had a frozen base, where waste dipped off and the air was thin. Runa streaked across this ashy surface, knowing the pods could not turn quickly enough to follow, and smashed the button for a hyperspace power lift. The ship rocked forward, streaking into the black before coming to an abrupt stop somewhere far east of Zoor, and far closer to the Lesser Galaxy.

Gido staggered into the cockpit, sagging on the walls for support with a wild look in his eyes. His brain was likely more scrambled than an egg for being free and on foot through all that. Runa shrugged apologetically before standing, stretching, and crouching below the dash.

“I need to check for trackers, and I need to know what’s going on.”

“H-huh… Yeah, okay.”

“I mean it.” And Runa looked right at him, at his wide eyes and mussy hair, his unfit uniformed clothing and - and he saw someone small. And he wondered where the comforting presence had gone. Because this was… going to be his answer, for the past decrees. Softening his voice, the pilot stared a moment longer. “You promised you’d tell me. So, start talking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so much for reading!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed - I respond to each and every one!!!
> 
> To support this story and my other work, follow me on social media! Twitter @thirthfloor, Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main), @juggled-muse (writing)!!
> 
> Thanks again!! Love you all!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Runa gets his answers.

“You promised you’d tell me. So, start talking.”

Runa stared at him a moment longer before turning back to the underside of the dash, unsure if he would be able to maintain eye contact when Gido looked like that. 

Small. Hesitant. Too pensive for his own good.

The scavenger let out a shaky breath, and Runa could only imagine the tortured expression that must be on his face. The copilot’s seat rocked, creaking slightly as he sat down, crossing his legs underneath him and folding his hands just the same. Gido picked at the seams on his gloves, the sounds of little threads snapping swelling in the silence.

“I’m… sure you’ve figured out by now, but I’m heading to the Queyfan Circuit to get away from some… organisation.” Gido paused, the picking continued, then silenced briefly when he continued. “Roughly three or four revolutions ago, my old guild died. The… the bounty hunters, you remember.”

“I remember. Do you miss that life?”

“I miss the family, the ones that treated me well. And getting paid to hunt monsters, s’why I still kinda do it. But I will never miss being asked to kill people, then getting trashed for refusing to do so.”

“Okay. Continue, then.”

“Yeah, um… Well, bounty hunters had been waning since then, but they were the last big guild and they suddenly just… disappeared entirely.” Chewing his lip, Gido rushed out his next sentence. “Turns out, they were merged into a different underground group, by choice or force.”

Runa sat up for a moment, sending a glance his way before turning back to the wires. “The underground group, that’s the one you’re -  _ we’re _ \- running from?”

Gido’s eyes remained fixed but not focused at some point on the floor, as if he were looking through it. “Uh-huh.” A small  _ clinking  _ sound signalled that he had begun fidgeting with the charm bracelet on his left wrist, colliding with the metal band from Zoor. He worked through his thoughts as he blundered them out. “They um… They’re an uprising of the old imperial faction from about a hundred revolutions ago. They’re reviving, but since it’s illegal it’s secret and under the guise of… something. I-I don’t really know. The point is, they - for some reason either took or accepted the guilds, they’re building up an army of sorts. Out of people they… pick off… people that won’t be missed, I guess.”

“And they make them join?”

Gido didn’t respond this time, just nodding, a bobbing motion that seemed lost as soon as it began. Runa sat up again, prodding for more, or just for something for him to focus his words on so he’d stop that motion. “They came after you?”

“At first, I was just another person they managed to snag. I got caught alone on a job, apparently they’ve got scouts out in the field that hire guys like me for fake contracts that just end with us getting taken.” He blanked before shaking his head, hair tousling to hide his eyes from this angle. “I got conscripted into their army, and sent to a - a  _ base _ , I guess, and it was…  _ awful _ .”

His voice got softer, talking slowly as if recounting it logically hurt. Something flickered behind his lovely, now dull and sad eyes, and Gido flinched, lurching back into speaking to avoid whatever had come his way. “I led an escape, only myself and a couple others making it through. One of the - one of the guards helped us, a dumb one, and honestly I don’t know  _ why  _ he did it. I can only imagine what they’ve done to him though… ‘Cause, you know, apparently that’s the first time anyone has ever made it out of there. Runa?”

Stirring from where his hands only hovered over the underbelly of the (tracker-free) dash, Runa turned to face Gido, his chest painfully tight. The more he learned, the more he wished he hadn’t asked. But Runa knew… he knew that he needed to hear it. He needed to share in this. 

He needed to be brave, and learn the ugly truth. And think hard about it. 

Because someone he treasured - maybe the only one - had been hurt. And he could bet the same was coming for all the others that were in that base. While it was usually something he ignored, this time it was right before him. 

Runa wondered how many other things like this he’d seen pass by, maybe even let slide.

“Yeah?” The pilot leaned forward, on his knees, looking up at Gido.

“I didn’t know they were going to chase me this fast.” His voice  _ quivered _ , watery and weak, like a trickling stream just barely able to get around the rocks lodged in its way. “I wasn’t going to do anything, or say anything, I just wanted to get away.” He chuckled bitterly, rubbing his hands together and staring down at them in shame. “I know it’s selfish, but I just… I would rather - I would rather be safe than ever go back there. And just hope that everyone else followed our lead.”

Runa put a hand on his knee, responding as gently as he could while still seeking answers. “They won’t have. You’re probably the only one that could have done it.”

“I know.”

And there was so much  _ guilt  _ in his voice, it slipped out to infect the air between them and fill it with a heavy morose. Knowing that there were others in that same place that Gido had tried so hard to escape from curdled their breath, boiling something deep and rotten within Runa. His heart pounded, his blood burning. It could be the adrenaline from today flaring back up, or the exhaustion, the sweat, the stink… Or it could be Gido’s face, posture, and frame before him. He was folding, emotionally and mentally and physically, and  _ fast _ .

Runa still had questions, yet he felt every word was a double-edged sword; he pressured Gido’s currently fragile composure, and in doing so, caused that aching, empty pit in his gut to swallow him up bit by bit.

“The thought of going back there is enough to horrify me,  _ why  _ did they have to end up chasing me, too?”

Runa thought it was rhetorical - which it maybe was - until Gido looked up at him. Runa was forced to look away, unsettled to his core by how unfamiliar that gaze was. The pilot swallowed, an audible  _ gulp _ . “They can’t have you as a failure. You’re a loose end right now. Like a fuse.”

Gido nodded again, then again. A repetition of that directionless bobbing motion. “Like a fuse.”

“That’s not your fault.” Runa stroked his thumb over where it rest on the scavenger’s leg.

“I… I’m still sorry. For everything.” Runa straightened up to protest, sucking in a sharp breath before Gido stammered more words out. “You - you shouldn’t have to -  _ deal _ with this for me. And I knew that. It wasn’t fair for me to keep it from you, or… or,  _ fuck _ , even call you up in the first place.”

Gido didn’t swear so cuttingly that often, not the loose tongue like Runa let fly. Frowning, Runa let his eyes drop to the floor beneath them.

“Hey, it… hasn’t been all bad, right?” With this confession, Runa ran his free hand through thick, knotted black hair before letting the fingers fall to scratch at his stubble. “I mean, am I angry? I’m fucking pissed, but not at  _ you _ . I’m mad at the people who did this to you.”

Blue and grey were such clear colours when they looked glassy, reflective. They shone in the dim light of the cockpit, reflecting on the bright mirroring hues that bled in through the windshield and the vast stars that surrounded the ship. Runa glanced up at Gido’s eyes, saw the tears in them and immediately felt afraid, a jolting spike that caused his gaze to avert instantaneously.

Covering his mouth, Gido mumbled a simple, “Yeah.” There was a conflict in his face, his expression soft, yet pained as if the gentleness Runa was showing him was unwarranted, unearned and he were shying away from it.

Runa got into the pilot’s chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “How many of you were there? Do you know how many they’ve taken?”

“I was in a platoon of… twenty, I believe? That’s what I saw.” Gido shook his head. “But the base was huge. I’m certain there were more, we were Platoon Four, so that’s… you know, at least 80 people probably. Likely more. They’ve got more men assigned as officers than soldiers at the moment, though.”

Runa furrowed his brow in thought, and Gido shifted in his seat.

“Why?” The blond murmured. “I don’t want to… I, uh, don’t know what you’re thinking.”

The pilot’s voice sounded foreign, thoughtful in a way that bode unwell and seemed like a scheming muse closer to something Gido would announce, if not for the hesitation that enveloped his words like a tightly sealed wrapper. “I’m thinking… we could help them. At least some. The organisation is illegal, we don’t have to completely tear it down from the inside, we just have to expose the fuck out of it. Like - totally unsalvageable.”

“Runa,  _ no _ .” Leaning forward, Gido snatched his hands up, his own trembling again as if they never stopped. “Listen to me.  _ Listen  _ to me. I want to help them too. I do, and I would but… but I can’t go back there. I can’t. Most of the guards are trained assassins, like me, they’d kill us on the spot. Or they’d take us, and Runa, honey, they  _ torture _ if you don’t comply. It can’t be - it can’t be worth it. I barely slept for a  _ revolution _ , that’s what they found got to me. They find out what disturbs  _ you _ , they latch to it. They put me in this bright room that had this buzzing, this terrible buzzing that got into your head, and by the time they let me out… I’d do whatever they said. I didn’t care. I just wanted to knock out, get away from it all… I  _ want _ to help whoever is there, but I can’t risk getting taken there again, or I won’t make it out. One of these days that buzzing will keep me up so long that I’ll go to sleep and never wake up.”

_Oh._ _Gido slept a lot_. Runa let out a soft sound, a quiet, despairing little noise. He could hardly imagine what this organisation in all its horror would do to him to get under his skin, to find what made him _this_ fearful, this _weak…_

“It should be worth it. I want to help the others. But I don’t know how, and it… If I don’t have a plan, it can’t be worth it. Reasoning isn’t enough when you can’t act right on it.” Gido sniffled, pulling his hands back and letting out a long, shaky breath. “I know that makes me so,  _ so _ selfish, and a disloyal person, and just…  _ bad _ . Just as bad, just as complicit. But I can’t make a promise to anyone, even myself, that I can’t follow through. Having hope  _ taken away _ because I flaked, that’s not something I can do to anyone…”

“You’re not a bad person, and wanting to have a plan, to do it  _ right  _ is not complicity. As long as you are learning, gathering information, planning and not letting it get away from you completely… Sometimes that’s all you can do, Gido. But, me,  _ I’ve _ been running my  _ whole _ life. Once you start, you’ll never stop. And avoiding it forever,  _ that’s _ complicity.”

“I just want to run away. Together. With you. You hadn’t stopped before now.”

Runa put a hand over his heart, letting out a silent breath he didn’t know he’d been holding as he gripped the fabric there. He tilted his head back briefly before sitting forward again and reclaiming Gido’s hands. “Didn’t you once say to me that… if we didn’t do things that scared us, then things big and bad would take over? You said life was dangerous, on that rooftop after the pod race, remember?”

Gido made a choked sound, like a little cough, and at first Runa thought he was laughing before Gido folded over, pressing his forehead to their clasped hands. And crying. And he  _ cried.  _ “It’s… It’s all easier said than done, Runa… I just - I just  _ talk _ a lot.”

And he  _ cried _ . Shoulders heaving, hyperventilating right then and there. Runa slipped out of his chair, falling to his knees and gathering Gido into his arms. He tucked his blond head against his neck, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and patting his back in gentle, grounding beats. 

“Hey, hey… I know. But remember, Gido, I also said that you have to save the fighting for when it really matters. So, look, let’s make a deal. If you…  _ tell  _ me you’ll fight, tell me you’ll be ready, then we can take a break until we have the most kickass plan we’ve ever come up with.”

He couldn’t say it was okay, or that things would turn out alright. Because honestly, Runa didn’t know; he didn’t know where this burst of confidence, this energy came from other than the fact that he could not  _ stand _ this. He would fight an entire legion alone if it meant he never had to see Gido cry like this again. Because this was horrible, this was the absolute  _ worst _ .

Gido cried in his arms for a few moments more, until Runa’s whispered nothings soothed him enough to control his breathing. He didn’t tremble any more, instead just resting there, heavy and broken like the battered thing he was.

Runa held him, longing to be closer, to stitch those wounds together piece by piece with his own hands. For now, and for the future to come, his own hands were the only he would truly trust to hold  _ this _ man. This invaluable treasure.

The scavenger’s deep voice rumbled against Runa, brushing against his skin like a solemn thunder. “I wouldn’t trade you for the world, you know that? You’re the best person I’ve ever met that I still have. You’re… everything.”

And despite the heaviness of the air, a small smile tugged at Runa’s lips. “Thank you.”

They stared at each other. It was the longest Gido had ever looked into Runa’s eyes without mirth behind his own, without a smile on his face. Yet there was  _ so _ much there, in the crease of his brows and the sorrow in his eyes. There was something tender there, something ineffable.

“I wouldn’t trade you for anything either, Gido. I couldn’t.”

Gido broke the spell then, as if the words woke him from a deep dream. He looked down and shook his head to clear it, then muttered briefly, “I’m… I’m going to go get some rest. If that’s okay, the past revolution, you know like I said… not being allowed to sleep… it catches up to me now. Do you mind?”

Runa straightened, pulling away and retreating to his chair, fixing imaginary wrinkles on his clothing as he once again avoided those eyes. “Go for it, anything you need. Thank you for telling me everything, Gido, and… I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Okay. Thank you, you’re… you’re the best, Runa. Really. I…” He stopped then, mid-stance, and Gido so much looked like he was about to say something astounding. But then he turned, and headed out of the room. “Thanks.”

He was out of sight in moments, and Runa sat back in his seat. He contemplated, he thought heavily and thoroughly, eyes staring forward as if he were trying to count the stars and quantify the galaxy.

_ Why are things suddenly so much more complicated? _

_ The future, or feelings, Runa? _

_ Both. Both, dammit. _

“Because you love him.”

Runa did not flinch in his seat saying it out loud, he didn’t recoil or gasp. He rubbed a hand over his lips, scratched his beard, and stared into the open.

_ You can’t run from love. He said it, and you know it. Do what scares you. _

“I have to fight for him.”

_ No more running _ .

“No more running.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Leave a comment if you enjoyed - I respond to each and every one!
> 
> This was a tough chapter, I'm... oof. But they'll heal together. It's okay to be scared, but plan for the future. Learn and plan so that you may act.
> 
> To support this work and my other writing, follow me on social media! Twitter @thirthfloor, Tumblr @aegir-emblem (main) or @juggled-muse (writing)!!


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